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Rates of drowning in Europe[0][1] vary by more than an order of magnitude. I'd be curious about compulsory swimming lessons in schools, as is done here in Switz

Rates of drowning in Europe[0][1] vary by more than an order of magnitude. I'd be curious about compulsory swimming lessons in schools, as is done here in Switzerland[2], and its correlation to the rate of drowning. [0] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20190809-1 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/D... [1] http://78.136.22.110/europe/info/switzerland/switzerland-drowning.pdf http://78.136.22.110/europe/info/switzerland/switzerland-dro... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_lessons#Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_lessons#Switzerland

AllegedAlec 7y ago
Netherlands reporting in: swimming lessons are spread over three competency group, and as far as I know, nearly all primary schools take time in the curriculum to do at least the first two competency levels before the pupils turn 7 or 8.
- philshem 7y ago
  Thanks for your answer. I posted my question to the open data stack exchange site[0]. If there isn't an existing dataset, maybe we can create one country by country. [0] https://opendata.stackexchange.com/q/16182/1511 https://opendata.stackexchange.com/q/16182/1511
  - AllegedAlec 7y ago
    Some data on the netherlands from 2014: https://www.scp.nl/dsresource?objectid=6185de0a-e909-4202-99d2-82bd64cdf2aa&type=org&& https://www.scp.nl/dsresource?objectid=6185de0a-e909-4202-99...
    - wichert 7y ago
      Interesting - that data does not quite match my experience; I was expecting a larger percentage to have B or C level diplomas. I wonder if that is due to region (more water and lakes on the west and north), (ethnic) background or something else.
      - AllegedAlec 7y ago
        Age and ethnic background, I think.
- wichert 7y ago
  That might depend on the region. Here (Leiden) it is not common for schools to offer swimming lessons. The vast vast majority (I have no numbers, but I would expect it to be close to 100%) of children do take swimming lessons from age 4. Most of them until they reach the third (C) exam, which tends to take about 1.5 years.
- mcv 7y ago
  A lot of primary schools don't do swimming lessons anymore. Fortunately nearly all Dutch kids get swimming lessons at a pool, generally before they'd get them at school anyway. Though that can cause problems for the one immigrant kid that doesn't have a diploma. There have been at least two drownings during school swimming lessons in recent years.
alistairSH 7y ago
Interestingly, Iceland has compulsory swimming lessons (not to mention, pools are part of the national identity). But, their drowning rate is relatively high, based on the first link. Of course, they also have a fair number of tourist drownings on their beaches - I don't know if there are enough of those to skew results.
silvestrov 7y ago
Denmark: almost everybody lives less than 30 miles from the Sea (or big lakes). More than 80% get swimming lessons in school. Not being able to swim is viewed as "having a bit of a handicap" that you should fix as soon as possible.

AllegedAlec 7y ago

Netherlands reporting in: swimming lessons are spread over three competency group, and as far as I know, nearly all primary schools take time in the curriculum to do at least the first two competency levels before the pupils turn 7 or 8.

philshem 7y ago
Thanks for your answer. I posted my question to the open data stack exchange site[0]. If there isn't an existing dataset, maybe we can create one country by country. [0] https://opendata.stackexchange.com/q/16182/1511 https://opendata.stackexchange.com/q/16182/1511
- AllegedAlec 7y ago
  Some data on the netherlands from 2014: https://www.scp.nl/dsresource?objectid=6185de0a-e909-4202-99d2-82bd64cdf2aa&type=org&& https://www.scp.nl/dsresource?objectid=6185de0a-e909-4202-99...
  - wichert 7y ago
    Interesting - that data does not quite match my experience; I was expecting a larger percentage to have B or C level diplomas. I wonder if that is due to region (more water and lakes on the west and north), (ethnic) background or something else.
    - AllegedAlec 7y ago
      Age and ethnic background, I think.
wichert 7y ago
That might depend on the region. Here (Leiden) it is not common for schools to offer swimming lessons. The vast vast majority (I have no numbers, but I would expect it to be close to 100%) of children do take swimming lessons from age 4. Most of them until they reach the third (C) exam, which tends to take about 1.5 years.
mcv 7y ago
A lot of primary schools don't do swimming lessons anymore. Fortunately nearly all Dutch kids get swimming lessons at a pool, generally before they'd get them at school anyway. Though that can cause problems for the one immigrant kid that doesn't have a diploma. There have been at least two drownings during school swimming lessons in recent years.

alistairSH 7y ago

Interestingly, Iceland has compulsory swimming lessons (not to mention, pools are part of the national identity). But, their drowning rate is relatively high, based on the first link. Of course, they also have a fair number of tourist drownings on their beaches - I don't know if there are enough of those to skew results.

silvestrov 7y ago

Denmark: almost everybody lives less than 30 miles from the Sea (or big lakes). More than 80% get swimming lessons in school. Not being able to swim is viewed as "having a bit of a handicap" that you should fix as soon as possible.