Empower your child with essential ocean safety skills at Strand

Strand Nippers Life Saving Club has invited children aged between seven and 13 to a free ocean safety training at the Strand Beach on Sunday, October 12, from 11am to 12.30pm. 

They aim to teach children life-saving lessons, including what the lifeguard flags mean, how to identify and escape a rip current, and how to assist someone in trouble.

A nippers' coach from the club, Sean Goldsmith, said the training is part of their initiatives to make sure that no drowning happens in this upcoming festive season.

In January, Bolander reported that statistics of fatal and non-fatal drownings, recorded for the last festive season, reflect an increase in incidents recorded at Strand Beach in comparison to the same time in the previous year ("Increase in fatal drowning at Strand Beach", Bolander, Wednesday January 29)

The City’s former mayoral committee member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross, said at the time: “The City has observed an increase in the number of fatal and non-fatal drownings at Strand Beach compared to last year. Strand Beach recorded three fatal drownings and four non-fatal incidents this season.”

This increase comes after the City recorded zero fatal drownings and two non-fatal drownings at the Strand beach in the previous 2023/24 season.

In response to what could be established as the most common cause of drowning incidents at Strand beach, Ms Van der Ross singled out the occurrence of rip currents at this beach as one of the most common culprits threatening the safety of swimmers.

Overall, Ms Van der Ross said that across City beaches, there have been 10 fatal drownings recorded since the start of the summer season in September last year and lifeguards, she said, had responded to more than 30 incidents of near-fatal drownings, “all of which required critical interventions, ranging from oxygen support to hospitalisation. Without these interventions, many of these incidents could have been fatal,” she said.

For more information about the ocean safety training, send an email to kat.dup01@gmail.com or contact Mr. Goldsmith at 083 399 8075.