It's been a sobering start to the year with 19 drowning deaths in January - which is 10 more than January last year. Water Safety New Zealand is currently renewing its strategy to decide where to allocate its 1.8 million dollars a year funding to make the biggest impact to try to prevent water fatalities. The focus needs to be widespread, with eight of the January deaths at unpatrolled beaches and five in rivers.
John Ross from Swimzone Lower Hutt, who has been a swimming coaching for more than 3 decades says not all children get swimming lessons through school, and those who do, are not learning enough to keep themselves safe.
John Ross and the Chief Executive of Water Safety NZ Matt Claridge join Kathryn Ryan to discuss how to get kids swimming safely.
