Blacktown City Council raises water safety awareness on World Drowning Prevention Day

Blacktown City Council has highlighted how it used the third official World Drowning Prevention Day on Tuesday 25th July to raise awareness on drowning as a public health issue.

Speaking at an event at the Blacktown Leisure Centre Stanhope, Blacktown City Mayor, Tony Bleasdale OAM, paid tribute to the work of staff at Council’s aquatic and leisure centres in keeping the Blacktown City Community safe, stating “from our lifeguards that perform water rescues to our emergency services personnel that assist with water rescues, to all the swim instructors that play a vital role in teaching safety in and around the water, I thank you.

The Blacktown event was attended by Blacktown City Council councillors: Bob Fitzgerald; Chris Quilkey; Allan Green and Dr Moninder Singh - with Mayor Bleasdale welcomed other significant aquatic industry advocates for drowning prevention including Royal Life Saving NSW Chief Executive Michael Ilinsky; AUSTSWIM NSW Manager Charlene Easton; Ken Holloway, life member and special projects officer for the Australian Pool and Ocean Lifeguard Association and Bondi Rescue’s Bruce Hopkins, Head Lifeguard at Waverley Council.

Also joining the occasion was the team from Maytronics, led by Managing Director, Dan Kwaczynski, who, as the Australian representative of the Poseidon Drowning Detection system, has partnered with Blacktown Key Venues to pioneer the use of drowning detection technology.

Mayor Bleasdale went on to say “World Drowning Prevention Day serves as an opportunity to highlight the opportunities we have to implement life-saving solutions and prevent drowning in our community. Blacktown City Council is a leader in this field.”

Mayor Bleasdale went on to talk about Blacktown’s year-round Aqua learn to swim lessons including the free adult swimming lessons in the summer holidays, community water safety information through ‘Pip’s Safe Summer’ comic strip and safety rap and free-to-use lifejackets at all our aquatic venues to help weak swimmers feel safer and more comfortable in the water.

Image: Participants in Blacktown City Council’s Swim Sense program.