Overview

• Data show that one in five primary school leavers cannot swim at all while three in five lack secure swimming skills.
• Officials from Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft and the Bundesverband Deutscher Schwimmmeister say swim courses alone are insufficient and urge parents to maintain skills with regular family practice.
• Authorities warn that distracted supervision, especially involving smartphones, and reliance on pool staff leave children vulnerable in public pools and private garden ponds.
• Hessian public-water fatalities fell from 18 to 12 in 2024 but nationwide drownings climbed to at least 411 last year, an increase of 31 deaths.
• With aging aquatic infrastructure and roughly 800 pools at risk of closure, experts caution that the federal government’s €1 billion pledge is inadequate to support swim education.