‘This is Australia, we’re surrounded by water’: how a nation of strong swimmers is losing its way

A body boarder at Freshwater Beach, in Sydney. Erosion of the public learn-to-swim sector is leaving a growing number of people unprepared to safely navigate Australia’s beaches and back yard pools. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/Getty Images

Exhaustion follows panic as the victim’s head dips below the surface. Unable to hold their breath any longer, a desperate, involuntary gasp for air sends water surging down their airways. Without oxygen, the heart stops within minutes.

Drowning was the fate of 104 people who died in waterways and swimming pools across Australia this summer past.