Water safety sessions launched after drownings

Water safety sessions have been set up in response to a spate of drownings in lakes, rivers and the sea.

Coventry Sports Foundation has teamed up with charity CV Life for the sessions at The Wave in Coventry that are designed to educate children on the difference from swimming in a still warm pool to open water.

The indoor park can simulate the sea and fast moving water, and it also features water slides that can disorientate - mirroring conditions where children may find themselves in danger.

"It's a serious session, we want children to take away three key skills - float to live, treading water and how to shout for help," said Wendy Jackson, CV Life's head of community development.

The sessions come in the wake of the death of Lillianna Tomlinson, who died after going into the River Tame close to Kingsbury Water Park, in May, and the death of Callum Baker-Osborne, from Coventry, in 2021, after he went to help his young nieces and nephews who were caught in a rip tide, while on holiday in Poole.

Twenty-two-year-old Brody Leach also died in Shrewsbury after he went into the River Severn in a pair of jeans, in the early hours of 26 June.

Jackson told BBC CWR the waterpark features The Lazy River, which involves fast-moving water, providing youngsters with the chance to learn to swim against a tide.

The waterpark also features The Cyclone which involves dropping into a pool of deep water and Jackson said this will be used to help children learn how to tread water, and do a star float to relax.

"We want to take them through the three elements – deep water, the wave, and how to move against moving water," Jackson added.

Not only will the children be in the water to learn what to do in dangerous conditions, but there will also be classroom training too as part of the sessions.

"There will be a little bit of classroom learning where we will go through some things we will want them to take away and remember – we need this to be serious," Jackson said.

Over the last five years, 3,615 people have drowned across the UK and Ireland, according to the Royal Life Saving Society UK.

In May this year up to 15 people are believed to have lost their lives in open water drowning incidents during a period of hot weather across the UK, according to West Midlands Fire Service.

Jackson added the main take away from the sessions was for children to take 60 seconds to think about what they have been taught before entering the water.

The sessions will be running at The Wave from Tuesday.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.