As a former champion ironwoman and long-standing surf lifesaver, Candice Warner knows the dangers of the ocean well.
She and her two nipper daughters have lent their support to a beach safety campaign that encourages kids to learn vital surf skills in a bid to reduce growing rip-related drownings on unpatrolled beaches.
"People need to know their capabilities," Warner said on Friday.
"Sometimes they'll see the ocean, not understand it, and just go for a swim.
"If we can just swim between the flags at a patrolled beach that'll go a very long way."
There were 29 people killed due to rip currents at Australian beaches over the 2022-23 summer, a 16 per cent increase on the decade-long average.
All of those deaths occurred at unpatrolled beaches.
The rise in drownings was due to an ever-increasing number of people visiting the beach, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in adventure tourism, according to Surf Life Saving Australia chief executive Adam Weir.
Only 10 per cent of Australians know how to spot a rip, the organisation says.
Surf Life Saving Australia has joined forces with breakfast cereal brand, Nutri-Grain, long a sponsor of lifesaving competitions, for the beach safety campaign.
A QR code on boxes will direct people to the surf lifesaving website, which points the public to their closest patrolled beach.
Mr Weir said the smartphone-friendly approach should be effective in reaching kids and young people, who have grown up with the devices.
The volunteer organisation will also run a series of nipper clinics over the summer.
Warner, who was crowned NSW state ironwoman champion at 16, said she believed in teaching kids from a young age how to respect the ocean as rips were hard to identify.
Warner's daughters Indi, 8, and Ivy, 9, are part of the nipper program, which teaches children water skills and beach safety.
"You don't need to become an expert - the best way to avoid trouble is to swim between the red and yellow flags at patrolled beaches," Ivy said.
Ironman champion Kendrick Louis is also involved in the campaign and he sees an opportunity to expand it outside Australia to countries like India.
"They do have beaches over there - they might not have big waves, but they still have wind and current," he said.
"So it's really just being able to take some of the top surf lifesavers in the world, which we are, over to places like that and start a bit of an education piece globally."
