MORE than 1,000 children learned about the dangers of open water swimming at this year's Swim Safe scheme at Boscombe.

Swim Safe, run by the Amateur Swimming Association and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, aims to teach youngsters and their parents about the effects of cold water on a person's swimming ability, and the danger presented by strong currents and waves.

A recent study commissioned by both organisations suggested that a fifth of children in England have got into difficulties in open water - this figure rising to 33 per cent among respondents from Bournemouth.

Jon Glenn, head of 'Learn to Swim' at the ASA, said: "Our research revealed that a fifth of children in England have got into difficulties in open water, with 40 per cent of parents saying it was a serious incident. This is obviously of great concern to both us and the RNLI.

"The Swim Safe campaign aimed to raise the awareness of this situation whilst also giving children free self-rescue, swimming and water safety tips in an open water environment.

"We were also actively encouraging parents to make sure they supervise their children when they are near open water, and for us, that means actually going in the water and enjoying aquatic environments together.

“This summer, our hard working volunteers helped almost as many seven to 14-year-olds as the past two years combined to have a wonderful Swim Safe experience."

The study was carried out by Opinion Matters in June, with 2,000 parents quizzed.

Now in its third year, Swim Safe gave almost 5,700 young people nationally the opportunity to learn the differences between swimming in a pool and in an open water environment.

In Boscombe, it ran from July 25 to August 13.

Swim Safe ambassador Cassie Patten, who won a bronze medal in the 10km Open Water at the Beijing Olympics, said: "I came from a pool background and then moved into open water swimming and absolutely loved it, but there are a lot of differences between the two.

"The temperature, the waves, tides and currents, and Swim Safe is about teaching children the vital skills to help them cope in these situations."

For more information visit www.swimming.org/swimsafe.