Top 10 Swimming & Drowning Prevention Safety Tips

July — Swimming & Drowning Prevention

July is the deadliest drowning month of the year. Make this the biggest push of your calendar.

1. Swim where there are lifeguards. It's the most effective single choice a swimmer can make.
2. Designate a Water Watcher — one adult, undistracted, no phone, on a rotating shift.
3. Drowning is silent. No splashing, no yelling. A drowning child looks like a quiet child.
4. Get everyone swim lessons. Formal instruction meaningfully reduces drowning risk in children.
5. Life jackets, not floaties. Water wings and inflatable rings are toys and give false confidence.
6. In a rip current, don't fight it. Float, stay calm, swim parallel to shore until you're out, then angle back in.
7. Never swim alone, and keep alcohol out of it.
8. Fence home pools on all four sides with self-closing, self-latching gates that a child can't reach.
9. Feet first, every time, in unfamiliar water. Shallow-water diving causes catastrophic spinal injuries.
10. Learn CPR. Bystander CPR in the first minutes is what changes drowning outcomes.

Want this broken into weekly topics? See the July Weekly Content Calendar.

Not into swimming? Try high-elevation or early-morning hiking instead — a way to beat the heat without getting in the water.

Part of the Rec+Safe Theme of the Month calendar.