SwimWise: Kick-starting survival instincts Survival swimming for babies Watch 14-month-old Bailey, wearing clothes, as he floats on his back in a pool and kicks himself to the side. Video: Kids Aquatic Survival School. PT0M48S http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2zdn4 620 349 December 15, 2013 - 12:51AM Emma Best is watching from the poolside as her 13-month-old son, Luke, is pulled under water. As the trainer releases her hold, he floats to the surface, gargling through his dummy. Water flows over his face and into his eyes as natural buoyancy kicks in before the trainer repeats the dunking several more times before the "lesson" is finished. Mrs Best smiles, relieved at her child's reaction in the pool. "I'd rather find him face up in the pool screaming, than face down," she says. If he fell in the pool, I'd want him to cry. But the technique, adopted by the Kids Aquatic Survival School, is controversial. The Royal Life Saving Society says that they have no statistical evidence to support the training regime and question whether it does equip infants to save themselves. The Sun-Herald's SwimWise water safety campaign last week revealed a "disturbing" 48 per cent increase in drownings nationwide in the zero-to-four age group in the 12 months to June. Two weeks into summer, there have been two drownings in NSW. Two three-year-old girls and a two-year-old boy have been rescued and revived. The owner of the Kids Aquatic Survival School, Rachelle Beesley, said their methods teach a child to become a problem solver. "We teach the child how to help themselves, instead of relying on someone holding them up or a flotation device," she says. At the school's Lilli Pilli pool, Clare Butler watches her 14-month-old daughter, Charlotte, flipped face first into the water - a simulation of a backyard pool accident. She turns over on her own, spluttering. Ms Butler says any distress involved is outweighed by the benefits. "I work at the children's hospital and I have seen first hand what happens when children can't survive in water ... and the others [who have survived], it's obviously catastrophic," she says. The operations manager at the Royal Life Saving Society, Michael Ilinsky, says the child is often given a cue before being immersed under the water. "What we strongly know through statistics is that children are never put into that situation when it comes to a backyard pool drowning scenario," he says. They fall into a pool often with clothes on, with no intention of entering the water, so the cue or the prompt is not there. He said teaching a child to swim at a young age was about familiarisation and developing confidence, but caution was needed because confidence can lead to children wanting to gain access to water. Six months is considered to be the appropriate time to start water familiarisation, so that by the time the child reaches "the danger ages of three and four" they are able to reach the edge of a pool, he says. Noela and David Hawkins lost their son, Ian, 19, when his canoe struck a submerged tree in a raging Shoalhaven River. The force of the water jack-knifed the canoe, trapping him in the torrent of water. It took five police officers to release him the next day. The loss in 1990 has given Ms Hawkins, who turns 77 on Thursday, a lifelong respect for the danger of water activities. Despite a triple bypass 18 months ago, she has just completed the Royal Life Saving Society's Grey Medallion certificate promoting water safety among people over the age of 55. Drowning deaths in this category have jumped by almost a third in the 12 months to June this year when compared to the 10-year average. The annual figure of 114 deaths in the age group nationwide has been given a status of "high concern" by the Royal Life Saving Society and needs to be reduced to less than half by 2020 according to the Australian Water Safety Strategy. People over 55 may rely on swimming skills gained earlier in life and they consequently overestimate their current abilities, the society says. The factors contributing to the drowning rate in the older age group include reduced fitness, greater exposure to water with greater leisure time, and more people living near the water. The impact of medical conditions and the use of medication can also contribute to unintentional injury or drowning. Of 514 people aged 65 years and over who drowned in Australia in the decade to June 2013, more than half had a medical condition that contributed to their death according to data from the Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database. Ms Hawkins said the Grey Medallion program should be made compulsory for anyone over 55, especially if they have grandchildren. "If nothing else comes out of Ian's death I was determined, if I had anything to do with it, no other child would drown," she said. You can't look after little children if you aren't competent in the water yourself. Tim Barlass