Nearly half of Australian primary school children are unable to swim 50 metres in a swimming pool or tread water for two minutes by the age of 12, according to new research by Royal Life Saving Australia. This is below the benchmarks for swimming education that Australia has been proud of for more than one hundred years.
Sports historian Dr Steve Georgakis, who has published his own research on the decline of swimming education and swimming carnivals in Australia, says these figures are disappointing for Australia.
“The decline of swimming is one of the great tragedies of modern Australian education and sport,” Dr Georgakis said. “As a society, we have neglected the educational, social, and life-saving benefits that swimming education provides.”
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Dr Georgakis says the promotion of swimming education has numerous advantages: “Our success in the pool at the elite level is central to nation-building. Australia's greatest Olympic successes have been in swimming, and our most accomplished swimmers have often been women. This is something we take great pride in.”
Dr Georgakis says swimming education also fosters a healthy outdoor lifestyle for young Australians, and it promotes social cohesion where students support each other at swimming carnivals, whether they are swimmers or non-swimmers who participate in the festivities by cheering on their fellow students who are competing.
“There is more to school than academic learning and high-stakes academic test results,” he said. “There is also physical learning and social learning. Being able to swim and being part of swimming education is transformative for young Australians, as beaches and pools are embedded in our culture and way of life.”
Swimming is for all Australians, not just athletes
In addition to our Olympic successes, Dr Georgakis said generations of Australians have been able to survive on our beaches due to widespread swimming education that began in NSW in the 1880s and expanded to all states after World War II.
“As a nation, we made a conscious decision to mandate swimming education in our schools in the late 1800s,” he said. “We made a decision to ensure that once children left school, they would be able to swim and ultimately survive on our beaches and in our pools.
“This was for three reasons: safety and survival; enjoying the great outdoors in our magnificent beaches, rivers and lakes; and to make swimming central to who we are as Australians.”
In 2025, Australian swimming education and swimming carnivals are no longer mandatory in the school system. “Participating in a swimming carnival is no longer an event which the majority of school-goers attend,” Dr Georgakis said. “It's now the minority, and this is a sad indictment of our education system where the majority of students no longer have these amazing experiences.”
Swimming lessons in decline
The decline in swimming education in Australia is reflected in the Royal Life Saving Australia report, which states 46 percent of Year 6 students (11 to 12-year-olds) are unable to confidently swim 50 metres or tread water for two minutes. Swimming skills don’t improve in high school – teachers estimate that 39 percent of Year 10 students still do not meet the Year 6 benchmark, according to the report.
Basic rescue skills in the water are also dangerously weak. The report found teachers estimate a staggering 84 percent of 15 to 16-year-olds are unable to swim 400 metres and tread water for five minutes, a basic lifesaving requirement and the benchmark for 17-year-olds.
The research shows that 31 percent of schools do not offer learn-to-swim programs at all. Cost, staffing shortages, and time limitations are cited as major barriers.
Declining swimming skills have been flagged for years. Thousands of children missed lessons due to the pandemic. Non-and poor-swimming children become adults who are highly vulnerable to drowning.
Call to mandate swimming lessons again
Dr Georgakis said swimming lessons and swimming carnivals need to be mandated in Australian schools. His research on swimming carnivals, and further work coauthored with Dr Jessica Graham in the School of Education and Social Work, confirmed that swimming is in decline across Australia, particularly in the city areas, and especially in working class suburbs.
“The research tells us that schools need to provide compulsory swimming lessons because parents cannot afford swimming instruction outside of class time,” he said. “No student should be locked out of swimming education because of cost.
“We know teachers and principals are under pressure to increase academic performance and to focus on high-stakes academic testing, such as NAPLAN.
“But schools need to understand that taking part in swimming education or sporting activities actually adds to intellectual development – the healthier and the fitter you are, the more you're able to engage academically.
“Many teachers are extremely passionate about swimming education, and principals need to have the support of government when timetabling swimming lessons classes into the crowded curriculum.”
What needs to be done?
Dr Georgakis said the School Sport Unit within the Department of Education is a great advocate for swimming education and provides excellent school swimming and water safety programs. They also provide funding for students to receive swim instruction.
“What needs to be done now is for local and state governments to also meet costs with transport and all pool costs," he said. "These costs are prohibitive. Swimming education needs to be mandated and needs to be a rite of passage for all school aged youth.”
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