More and more children in Austria cannot swim – alarming numbers!

More and more children in Austria cannot swim – alarming numbers!

In Austria, a worrying 630,000 people, or 7% of the population aged five and over, are unable to swim. This alarming statistic shows that 137,000 children and young people between the ages of five and 19 in particular do not have basic swimming skills. The situation is particularly impressive among 11 and 12 year olds, 9% of whom will already be considered non-swimmers in 2025, while this proportion was still 5% in 2021. This information is provided by vol.at.

The decline in swimming skills can be observed primarily among 10 to 14 year olds. This age group is often unsupervised in lakes or swimming pools, which increases the risks. The decline is largely attributed to the closure of school swimming courses during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, 76,000 children and young people have uncertain swimming skills, although this number has stagnated compared to the previous year.

Parental responsibility and access to swimming lessons

Around 17% of parents report that their children did not receive swimming lessons at school. In addition, 10% of families do not have access to swimming pools or lakes, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year. The importance of parents is particularly clear in this context: 64% of them play a crucial role in their children's acquisition of swimming skills, while only 38% of children attend professional swimming courses and only 17% take part in school swimming lessons.

The costs of private swimming courses represent a hurdle for many families with lower incomes. The emergency is underlined by the frightening statistics on drownings in Austria: between 2014 and 2023, a total of 333 people drowned, including 34 children and young people between the ages of five and 19. In 2024, 39 people have already died from drowning, including three children and adolescents. Even if there have been no documented drowning accidents in 2025, the risk remains high.

International approaches to improving swimming skills

The situation in Austria is in the context of a Europe-wide study on swimming competence, the Swimming Check 2024, which is being carried out under the direction of the Institute for Sports Science at the European University Flensburg and the German Sport University Cologne. The aim of the project is to analyze differences in swimming training in Europe and to research their effects on children's swimming ability, such as uni-flensburg.de reported.

This Europe-wide comparison aims to identify successful models of swimming training. In Flensburg, 13 school classes have already taken part in this swimming test. Children completed tasks such as jumping, floating, diving and breathing. It also examines how the children's living environment influences their ability to swim.

The long-term goal of this initiative is to optimize swimming training in order to sustainably improve children's swimming ability and reduce the number of drownings. Ultimately, the active participation of children in water sports should be encouraged.