More should be done to ensure children learn how to swim in Hull, water safety experts say.
Figures compiled by the BBC show just 57% of children from the city can swim 25m (82ft) proficiently when they leave primary school, compared with 72% nationally.
Alan Stewart, a Hull-based member of HM Coastguard, said: “It’s absolutely key for people from a young age to teach their children to swim because as an adult or parent, you can’t always be with them, you can’t always protect them going into water.”
Matthew Rudd, who was overseeing swimming lessons at a Hull pool, said: “If a child or person of any age finds themselves in water and they don’t know what to do, then they’re in serious trouble.”
Rudd, a tutor for the Swimming Teachers’ Association (STA), was watching six trainee teachers taking their first lesson with beginners at Albert Avenue Pools.
“We are not teaching a sport here, we are teaching a life skill,” he said.
“It’s not just being able to propel yourself from one side of the pool to the other, but it’s about making sure you can stay safe in the water.”