Fact or Fiction: 6 Surprising Truths About Swimming Safety

Fact. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children ages one to four have the highest drowning rates. Alarmingly, nearly one in three deaths from accidental injury come from drowning. And, for every death by drowning in those age 14 and under, there are four visits to emergency rooms for near-drownings, which can result in lifelong injury, including permanent brain damage. What you can do: • Whenever young children are swimming, an adult who knows how to perform child CPR should be supervising at arms length. • If your home has a pool, it should be fenced in on four sides, which reduces risk of drowning during unsupervised swimming by more than 80%. • After supervised swimming is done, clear the area of pool toys to remove the temptation for children to return to the pool unsupervised. Most drowning deaths among young children happen at times when parents are nearby, but a child visits the pool alone.

Myth. Four in five drowning victims are boys or men, according to CDC drowning statistics. Research has shown that boys and men are more likely to be over-confident in their swimming abilities, and younger adults are more likely than older adults to be over-confident. What you can do: • Enroll your children in swimming lessons at an early age. The risk of drowning is decreased by nearly 90% when children aged one to four years participate in formal swimming lessons. Adults, too, can benefit from refresher courses. • Be aware that adult supervision of young swimmers is still essential even if they've had good swimming lessons.

Fact. For older teens and adults, age 15 and up, most drownings occur in natural settings like lakes, rivers, and oceans. Alcohol is a factor in nearly half the drownings in this age group, according to the CDC. What you can do: • Avoid alcohol if you're swimming, boating, or enjoying other water sports. • Heed local weather conditions and warnings. Avoid dangerous conditions like thunderstorms or strong currents. • Swim where there's a lifeguard whenever possible, and swim with a buddy — never alone.

Fact. Whether you're hopping in a canoe for a short paddle around a quiet lake or jetting off on a motor boat for the day, remember that life jackets save lives. After boating accidents, 90% of people who drown were not wearing life jackets, according to the CDC. What you can do: • Stock life jackets and wear them. Inflatable or foam toys aren't a substitute.

Myth. In 2011, the Envrionmental Protection Agency reported that 95% of beaches were safe and open for swimming. But the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tallied more than 23,481 beach closings and swimming advisories due to pollution. What's more, Riverkeeper, NRDC, and other watchdogs have criticized recent proposed changes to federal safe swimming guidelines that would weaken standards for protecting public health. What you can do: • Before swimming, ask officials about water quality testing at your local beach. You'll want to swim where the water usually tests clean, where the water is tested frequently, and where officials close the beach whenever contamination is present. Search 200 of the most popular U.S. swimming spots with NRDC's Testing the Waters chart. • Avoid swimming for at least 24 to 48 hours after heavy rains, which are known to wash harmful bacteria from land and sewers into water. • Don't swim near obvious sources of pollution, like discharge pipes, or where garbage accumulates. • Do your part by properly disposing of pet waste and human waste on boats. • Support efforts to upgrade sewage systems to minimize "combined sewage overflows" that result when sewers are inundated with rain water.

Fact. Poison Control Centers receive as many as 10,000 reports of exposure to chlorine in pool chemicals annually, with two in every five cases involving children under the age of six, according to the CDC. Another 4,000 cases are reported for respiratory and eye irritation, usually from improper storing, mixing or using of pool chemicals. What you can do: • Store pool chemicals separately, in a dry place away from heat or direct sunlight. • Never mix chemicals. Particularly with chlorine-based products, any mixture with an acid can release deadly chlorine gas. • Consider a natural swimming pool, which manages disinfection without the use of harsh chemicals.