Swimming and water safety education has long been a feature of lifesaving programs in high income countries. These programs are driven by water safety agencies through school and community systems that seek to build skills with dual goals of protecting against drowning and preparing children for safe aquatic recreation activity.

The value of such a program has been in constant scientific debate. In recent years their role as part of comprehensive prevention programs has been acknowledged, with programs such as SwimSafe Bangladesh showing a significant impact in reducing drowning deaths.

The Swimming and Water Safety stream will cover the following areas:

• Advances in swimming and water safety
• Learning and education programs
• Research and program evaluation
• Catering for diversity in geography, demography, socio economic, ethnicity, gender and climate.

The abstract process will facilitate an informative mix of research, policy and practice in the area of swimming and water safety. Practitioners, particularly those working in this field will benefit from exposure to a program highlighting best practice, networking with researchers and practitioners alike, and presenting their work for review by their peers.