School swimming carnivals are dying. It’s putting a generation at risk

The Australian rite of passage in which every school student swam or participated in the annual swimming carnival is dying, along with a fall in lessons at schools.

Surveys of parents and teachers by Royal Life Saving Australia found one in four schools around Australia had abandoned the annual swimming carnival, while others restricted participation to squad swimmers. At those schools that offered a carnival, only 50 per cent of eligible students participated.

Royal Life Saving Australia chief executive Dr Justin Scarr says the decline in school carnivals and swimming lessons sounded an alarm that a huge cohort of children and young people were at increased risk of drowning.

Jackson Teede, 11 and in year 6, likes swimming because it makes him feel fit and improves his self-esteem.Credit: James Brickwood

“We risk creating a generation with extremely poor swimming skills,” he said.

During the pandemic, many children missed lessons or never started them. Most of those missing out came from the lowest socioeconomic areas, particularly in regional Australia.

There were 104 fatal drownings this summer – a 14 per cent increase on the five-year average.

Parents and students told the Herald that a growing trend was only swimmers attended the carnivals. At others, participation is voluntary. A student from Willoughby Girls High School, who declined to be named, said: “Unless you are a swimmer, nobody goes to a carnival. It is seen as very uncool.”

Is it time to say goodbye to the annual swimming carnival?

Do you have fond memories or did it scar you for life? Send the Herald your memories and photos (with captions and credits please) of your swimming carnival, or tell us what’s happening with your child’s carnival and school-based swimming lessons. email [e-mail]  

St Ives High student Margot Bode, 17, is at the West Pymble Y pool six times a week doing squads, training and teaching younger children. She is among a handful of senior students who compete at the school carnival.

“People start swimming and then they stop,” she said. “It would be nice to see them encouraged to continue. I do try to get my friends to come along. Last year I got two or three.”

Jackson Teede, 11 and in year 6, likes swimming because it makes him feel fit and improves his self-esteem. He said all his friends used to swim. “Now they have started to drop out,” he said. “Maybe they got out of the habit and they thought it was boring.”

Margot Bode, 17, and Jackson Teede, 11, at The Y Ku-ring-gai Fitness and Aquatic Centre, where they are both part of swim squad programs. Credit: James Brickwood

The research was based on two national surveys. The first was of 1234 parents – 63 per cent female and mostly parents with children nine years and older. The second was of 326 public and private school teachers – mostly physical education teachers, sports co-ordinators and principals – about swimming skills and lessons.

Scarr said the most alarming finding was that the children who left primary school without adequate swimming and water safety skills were not improving in high school. That’s when risk of drowning increases as young people swim with friends and away from supervision.

Though the surveys were separate, teachers and parents were in broad agreement. They said nearly half of year 6 students could not swim 50 metres or float for two minutes, falling below national benchmarks for 12-year-olds.

The surveys found one in three schools had stopped running swimming lessons, blaming cost, logistics, time involved and lack of parental support and student interest.

A school swimming carnival at Pymble in 1959.Credit: David Cumming

Where schools ran lessons, the median time allocated was 7.5 hours a year, falling short of what was required to teach a child to swim or survive. Without school-based lessons, which are usually free, parents said the cost was a barrier.

When teachers were asked about the annual swimming carnival, they said participation was highest among years 7 to 9, and lowest in kindergarten to year 2.

When asked why they did not hold a carnival, half of the respondents cited students’ poor swimming skills and the cost of hiring a pool, 45 per cent said they lacked staff and resources, and 40 per cent blamed a lack of support and interest among parents and students.

Teachers and parents at the Illawong Public School’s annual swimming carnival in Engadine in 1981.Credit: Trevor James Robert Dallen/Fairfax Media

Statistics provided by Y NSW (YMCA) which operates nine pools across NSW, including Hornsby and West Pymble, showed a decline in participation in swimming carnivals in Greater Sydney, down from more than 12,500 children aged eight to 18 in 2022-23 to almost 10,200 in 2024-25. In contrast, regional NSW participation had risen significantly.

Swimming carnival participation

Average primary school, years K-6, participation in swimming carnival:

• 27% mandatory
• 26% swimming participants only

Average secondary school, years 7 to 12, participation in swimming carnivals:

• 40% mandatory
• 38% swimming participants only

Source: Royal Life Saving Australia surveys of parents and teachers 

Kristen James, Y NSW’s manager of sport and recreation, noticed a big drop-off in children doing lessons towards the end of primary school.

This was particularly evident on very hot days.

“You’ll see a massive influx of people who haven’t been to the pool since the last holidays, and they’re not having a continuous upskilling to keep themselves safe in the water [and be able to] rescue themselves.”

A NSW Education Department spokesperson said all public school students had access to the swimming and water safety program.

“School swimming carnivals are non-compulsory, competitive sport events that do not focus on teaching children how to swim.”

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