200 DEATHS BY DROWNING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 125, 12 June 1937, Page 5

200 DEATHS BY DROWNING

i— ' PfeBs Association. )

N.Z. Average For Past Ten Years NEED FOR ACTION !

(By Telegraph

CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. , SkoWmg tlie toll of drowning fatalities in tlie Dominion, an arrestiUg report from Mr. D. Saunders, New Zealand Swimming Association Educational OfScer at Auckland, waa presented today at a conference of representatives oi the Govermnent bodies of swimming, life-saving and surf work in the Dominion. The report also revealed the apathy in which swkmning was treated i» primary schools. Covering the year 1935, the flgures illustrated the lack of facilities for swimming, and showed that only 12 per cent. of pupils leaving primary schools were certified as proficiency swimmers and only 27 per cent. were able to sWim 25 yards and over. "In the past ten years tleaths by drowning averaged 200 per annum," Mr. Saunders stated. "When it is con* sidered that the loss ig chiefiy eonfined to five months of Jhe year, and that a iarge percentage of the population livuig away from the sea is not afl?eeted by the risk, surely it is time that the Governoient were affected by this alarmingly high figure. "Compare with this their conetema* tion over road fatalities figures and the Stopa taken to reduce them. When it is taken into consideration. lliat rod accidents oocur in 365 dayts of tho year and in every part of the country, tho felative loss Uoob not nearly reach that by drowning. Moreover road accidents are spread over all ages, older victims being in the majority, but swinlming is a pastime in which mainly the younger generation indulge, and aecordingly the majority of drownings are found among the youth of th© country — lives weil worth aaving. ' ' Mr. Saunders' report WaS cotnpued from a survey of 1920 sehoois. He added. to his report a Series of Suggea tions for increas'ing the attention given to swimming.