There are concerns more kids leaving primary school are not meeting national benchmarks for swimming and water safety education.
Figures from Royal Life Saving showed 40 per cent of 12-year-olds could not swim for 50 metres or float in the water for more than two minutes.
It comes as Life Saving Victoria urged locals and visitors to be aware of the beach and river conditions when they were spending time in the water around Geelong and the Surf Coast over summer
Dr Hannah Calverley from LSV said new data due out showed Greater Geelong was in the top five local government areas for drowning.
“We know that about 55 per cent of drownings within Geelong are residents of that area,” she said.
“It’s not just visitors – while they are at risk, it’s complacency in local waterways.”
Parents were again being encouraged to enrol their children into swim classes.
