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Anthropogenic contaminants in water can impose risks to reproductive health. Most of these compounds are known to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs can impact the endocrine system and subsequently impair the development and fertility of non-human animals and humans. The source of chemical contamination in water is diverse, originating from byproducts formed during water disinfection processes, release from industry and livestock activity, or therapeutic drugs released into sewage. This review discusses the occurrence of EDCs in water such as disinfection byproducts, fluorinated compounds, bisphenol A, phthalates, pesticides, and estrogens, and it outlines their adverse reproductive effects in non-human animals and humans.

mcwatson100@gmail.com There are around 236 000 drowning deaths worldwide each year, most of them young children.1 The family, social, and economic toll of these losses is intolerably high and entirely preventable,12 which is why we are grateful to McNally for highlighting swimming as an important but neglected area of public health.3 The World Health Organization recommends interventions to prevent drowning, including developing a national water safety plan, improving drowning data, and teaching school age children basic swimming and water safety skills.12 In the UK the National Water Forum has developed a strategy and made some important achievements,4 including developing a water incident interactive database and raising public and professional awareness. England has lost almost 400 swimming pools since 2010.5 The government should conduct an audit of swimming pools and develop a clear costed plan for increasing facilities.6 McNally’s article reminds us that swimming is a positive intervention that can be used to target a range of important public health concerns: diabetes, falls, obesity, mental health, and physical activity are just a few.37 Swimming and aquatic activity can also be extremely beneficial before and after surgery. Exercise: the miracle cure and the role of the doctor in promoting it. 2015. www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Exercise_the_Miracle_Cure_0215.pdf 9 Watson MC Lloyd J. Physical activity: manifold benefits for health and wellbeing.

Drowning is responsible for about 372000 deaths per year around the world (OMS, 2014). Nowadays, Swimming Instruction is considered a relevant preventive measure for drowning. However, the act of swimming by itself does not ensure the victim with full protection, thereby this study embraces the concept of Water Competency because it includes swimming competencies, awareness, attitude and risk management. Based on a series of studies called “Can you Swim? Survey” (Moran et al., 2012), it was established an evaluation protocol on Perceived Water Competency (PWC), Real Water Competency (RWC) and Risk Management (RM) adapted to the Portuguese reality, focused especially in the Azorean educational context. Aside from these competencies evaluation, the protocol also describes the environmental and sociocultural influences and the Physical Education subject and Sports on the development of water competencies. This work aims to bridge the gap of a standard evaluation methodology of Water Competency (WC). Adding a set of tasks and an effective review of the obtained results, the present methodology allows the classification of groups of students into approved/not approved as an essential precondition of the activities/categories' safe execution in the nautical area. It is also presented a dissemination of the tools constructed and established partnership’s methodology. A pilot application was carried out in a group of students (n = 115) with an average age of de 14.58 years, for both genders. This test sample belongs to six geographically balanced schools in São Miguel Island – Azores. The obtained results suggest that participants in this study were unable to accurately predict their actual swimming and survival skills, and no significant differences were evident in perceived or actual competency by gender. It was proven that regular informal exposure affects some of the tested competencies. However, the Physical Education classes swimming lessons variable was responsible for the bigger differences. In the end, we checked that formal Competitive Swimming lessons are the variable that shows a bigger influence in the PWC, in particular on the perceived activities of “maximum distance swam in 15 minutes” (Mann-Whitney U = 739, p = 0.000), “100 m backstroke” (Mann-Whitney U = 699, p = 0.000) and “dive entry headfirst” (Mann-Whitney U = 963, p = 0.010); in RM on the: “caught in a rip current at beach” (Mann-Whitney U = 972.5, p = 0.029) and “chased toy into the deep end of a swimming pool” (Mann-Whitney U = 957, p = 0.022); and in RWC on the activities: “maximum distance swam in 15 minutes” (Mann-Whitney U = 777, p = 0.000), “underwater swimming” (Mann-Whitney U = 963.5, p = 0.023), “100 m backstroke” (Mann-Whitney U = 712, p = 0.000) and “2 m surface dive” (Mann-Whitney U = 921.5, p = 0.012). Thereby, when having a major exposure combined with organised water safety or swimming lessons, the RWC increases. This work highlights the importance of proper conditions to maximise exposure and aquatic education amongst young people, leading to the prevention of drowning. Drowning is responsible for about 372000 deaths per year around the world (OMS, 2014). Nowadays, Swimming Instruction is considered a relevant preventive measure for drowning. However, the act of swimming by itself does not ensure the victim full protection; thereby, this study embraces the concept of Water Competency because it includes swimming competencies, awareness, attitude and risk management. Based on a series of studies called “Can you Swim? Survey” (Moran et al., 2012), it was established an evaluation protocol on Perceived Water Competency (PWC), Real Water Competency (RWC) and Risk Management (RM) adapted to the Portuguese reality, focused especially in the Azorean educational context. Aside from these competencies evaluation, the protocol also describes the environmental and sociocultural influences and the Physical Education subject and Sports on the development of water competencies. This work aims to bridge the gap of a standard evaluation methodology of Water Competency (WC). Adding a set of tasks and an effective review of the obtained results, the present methodology allows the classification of groups of students into approved/not approved as an essential precondition of the activities/categories' safe execution in the nautical area. It also presents a dissemination of the tools constructed and established partnership’s methodology. A pilot application was carried out in a group of students (n = 115) with an average age of de 14.58 years for both genders. This test sample belongs to six geographically balanced schools in São Miguel Island – Azores. The obtained results suggest that participants in this study were unable to accurately predict their actual swimming and survival skills, and no significant differences were evident in perceived or actual competency by gender. It was proven that regular informal exposure affects some of the tested competencies. However, the Physical Education classes swimming lessons variable was responsible for the bigger differences. In the end, we checked that formal Competitive Swimming lessons are the variable that shows a bigger influence in the PWC, in particular on the perceived activities of “maximum distance swam in 15 minutes” (Mann-Whitney U = 739, p = 0.000), “100 m backstroke” (Mann-Whitney U = 699, p = 0.000) and “dive entry headfirst” (Mann-Whitney U = 963, p = 0.010); in RM on the: “caught in a rip current at beach” (Mann-Whitney U = 972.5, p = 0.029) and “chased toy into the deep end of a swimming pool” (Mann-Whitney U = 957, p = 0.022); and in RWC on the activities: “maximum distance swam in 15 minutes” (Mann-Whitney U = 777, p = 0.000), “underwater swimming” (Mann-Whitney U = 963.5, p = 0.023), “100 m backstroke” (Mann-Whitney U = 712, p = 0.000) and “2 m surface dive” (Mann-Whitney U = 921.5, p = 0.012). Thereby, when having a major exposure combined with organised water safety or swimming lessons, the RWC increases. This work highlights the importance of proper conditions to maximise exposure and aquatic education amongst young people, leading to the prevention of drowning.

BackgroundMany competencies are required to survive a drowning event, especially in open water where most drownings occur. Traditional understanding of surviving a drowning have been based on swimming competency, determined simplistically by how far a person can swim. However, swimming ability alone is unlikely to offer much protection from drowning. Rather, a more complex understanding of water competencies involved is needed, especially in respect to the high incidence of adult drowning in countries such as New Zealand. This presentation addresses this concern by examining the gap between perception and reality.MethodsAdults’ perceived water competence was measured against their actual water competence in both closed (pool) and open water environments. Five water competencies were measured, entry, exit, distance swim, timed fast swim and floating.ResultsDespite most adults (98%) unable to swim more than 100m in open water, more than one-half (59%) perceived themselves as good swimmers, and over one-quarter (27%) thought they could swim more than 200m. Furthermore, adults reported a higher perception of floating competence despite one-quarter not being able to float for 15 seconds in a pool.ConclusionGaps between perception and reality were found in water competence among adult groups, especially in open water settings. Differences between perceived and actual competence have underestimated risk and overestimated their competency, providing a plausible explanation of why many adults drown.Learning OutcomeRelationships with water safety attitudes and risk perceptions are discussed to provide recommendations for the prevention of drowning among adults.

BackgroundChildren aged 5–14 years report the lowest drowning rates in Australia. However, research has shown that 40% of primary-school-aged children do not achieve the required swimming and water safety skills, which is a key risk factor for drowning.MethodsThe Royal Life Saving National Fatal Drowning Database was used to examine unintentional drowning deaths among children aged 5–14 years from 1-July-2011 to 30-June-2021.ResultsBetween 2011/12 and 2020/21, 105 children aged 5–14 years drowned in Australia, 71% (n=75) males and 29% (n=30) females and 62% were among children aged 5–9 years. The top three activities being undertaken prior to drowning across all ages were swimming (52%), fall (14%) and bathing (8%). Swimming pools were the leading location (24%) (including public and home pools), followed by river/creek (22%). Drowning occurred primarily in Summer (46%), on Saturday (25%) and in the afternoon (12pm-6pm) (70%). Swimming ability was known in 40 cases, of which 33% were perceived as poor or non- swimmers. Drowning trends between older and younger children were evident.ConclusionMale children are at the greatest risk of drowning. Children aged 5–9 are at increased risk of falling into water and having poor swimming ability. For older children 10–14 years, risk factors include less supervision and more independence when swimming in pools and inland waterways.Learning outcomesDrowning prevention strategies focusing on children need to remind caregivers not to over-estimate their child’s swimming abilities and to continue practicing constant supervision regardless of their child’s age.

This study explored water safety awareness, swimming ability and drowning prevention behaviour among Malaysian adolescents aged 13-17. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 525 secondary school students (278 boys and 247 girls) from five regions in Malaysia. Data collected through a self-administrated online survey (modified water safety and drowning prevention questionnaire) using Google Form. Both genders demonstrated similar awareness levels of drowning dangers identification and water safety tasks and rules. Most of the respondents were categorised as non-swimmers. Notably, 57% of them could not swim while a quarter could swim less than 50 meters. Only 17% claimed adequate swimming ability. Boys demonstrated significantly higher swimming ability (p<0.001) compared to girls, though girls reflected better safety practices with a lower risk in swimming: alone/unsupervised (p=0.001), in prohibited areas (p<0.001), and in unknown water depth (p=0.03). These findings provide additional knowledge in educational policies to develop impactful lifelong drowning prevention programs in Malaysia.

BackgroundGlobally, drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury death among children. To prevent child drowning, four major prevention strategies have been proposed: improving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, restricting access, supervision, and improving aquatic competencies. There is however a dearth of studies exploring the relationship between demographic factors and their effect on aquatic competencies.MethodsThis review critically synthesised studies that examined the link between demographic characteristics and practical aquatic competencies. Eleven databases were searched for English language peer-reviewed studies published since 2000, with the PRISMA process applied.ResultsFourteen studies fulfilled all inclusion criteria. Studies were quasi-experimental or cross sectional in design, ranking as level III-2 or IV, respectively, on the NHMRC Evidence Hierarchy. Other aspects of the articles were considered, including sampling, heterogeneity, confounding, and bias. Eighteen demographic factors were shown to significantly impact aquatic competencies. Demographic factors most often reported in studies included: age (n=57,048), gender (n=56,282), geography (n=47,620), medical conditions (n=7,888), and frequency of swimming (n=7,980).ConclusionThis review highlights the demographic factors that significantly impact on aquatic competencies. Whilst further investigation is required to increase the evidence base for some demographic factors, these results may assist in identifying and tailoring swimming and water safety programmes to accommodate those at risk of not achieving aquatic development milestones.Learning OutcomesDrowning prevention requires a multifaceted approach, which includes targeted age groups and specific risk factors. This review provides practitioners with insight into demographic factors that influence the development of aquatic competence and enables interventions to be targeted accordingly.

The purpose of this research was to develop an algorithm for a wearable device that would prevent people from drowning in swimming pools. The device should detect pre-drowning symptoms and alert the rescue staff. The proposed detection method is based on analyzing real-time data collected from a set of sensors, including a pulse oximeter. The pulse oximetry technique is used for measuring the heart rate and oxygen saturation in the subject’s blood. It is an optical method; subsequently, the measurements obtained this way are highly sensitive to interference from the subject’s motion. To eliminate noise caused by the subject’s movement, accelerometer data were used in the system. If the acceleration sensor does not detect movement, a biosensor is activated, and an analysis of selected physiological parameters is performed. Such a setup of the algorithm allows the device to distinguish situations in which the person rests and does not move from situations in which the examined person has lost consciousness and has begun to drown.

Multicultural communities in Australia are recognised as a priority area for drowning prevention, but no evidence-based study has addressed their knowledge of beach safety. This study used an online survey tool to identify and examine risk factors relating to swimming ability, beach visitation characteristics and behaviour, and beach safety knowledge of the Australian Southern Asian community to assist in the development of future beach safety interventions. Data was obtained through 249 online and in-person surveys of people aged > 18 years. Most respondents reported poor swimming ability (80%), often swam in in the absence of lifeguards (77%), did not understand the rip current hazard (58%), but reported that they entered the water (76%) when visiting beaches. Close to one-quarter (28%) had not heard, or didn’t know the purpose, of the red and yellow beach flags, which identify lifeguard supervised areas on Australian beaches. Length of time living in Australia is an important beach safety consideration for this community, with minimal differences in terms of gender and age. Those who have lived < 10 years in Australia visit beaches more frequently and are less likely to have participated in swimming lessons, be able to swim, heard of the flags or swim between them, understand rip currents, or have participated in a beach safety program. Very few (3%) respondents received beach safety information from within their own community. The importance of beach safety education and swimming lessons within the Southern Asian community should be prioritised for new and recent migrants to Australia.