Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on.

slate.com/technology/2013/06/rescuing-drowning-children-how-to-know-when-someone-is-in-trouble-in-the-water.html

June 19, 2025 - 16:22 UTC

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The last line in the article should add that you absolutely should not take your eyes of your kids in water at any time. The speed at which things can go bad is quicker than anyone expects.
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Yup, if you have small children or bigger rambunctious children do not take your eyes off them. If you have to then tell someone else to watch them, bring them where you're going or hold their hand/shoulder/backpack/whatever.

Even if you're an adult swimming with another adult, watch each other.
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I've jumped into pools twice to rescue a kid who was drowning silently.

Both times, there were other adults within arms length from the drowning kid, and they ignored it.

How do I know? Because I grew up on the Pacific Northwest and we were taught in school how to recognize a person drowning.
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I am a lifeguard and most kids I have saved had a parent right next to them. Having a parent at arms' length but being pushy, wanting to be in the deeper water, delusional about child's abilities are often what causes drownings.
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Putting it out there, theres a whole youtube channel called "Lifeguard Rescue that is just 1-2 minute clips of wide angle shots of a waterpark pool, someone falling off their intertube and beginning to drown and the lifeguard on duty saving them.
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Shows you what drowning looks like, how fast it can happen and how difficult it is to identify if you're not trained or not at an elevated angle (most swimmers within 3 feet of them don't notice).
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Everyone should read this.
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No its just sinking silently. Thats what my son did before I jumped in and got him
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Me too. My two at swimming lessons. The learner swimmer lost his kick board and simply latched onto his older sister. They both began silently sinking. Jumping in and grabbing them was faster than alerting the instructor who was holding another learner. Scary.
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Great work Trish!!
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Thank you for sharing this!
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๐Ÿ“Œ
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Thank you for the annual reminder
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We call it invisible drowning.
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thank you for sharing this-- one of the most terrifying things I have read in a long time, but I am so glad to know.
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I'm always grateful when people share this. I nearly died by drowning as a toddler in the ocean. I ran away quickly from my grandparent who couldn't swim, stepped off a drop off and was taken by the undertow. I bobbed up once and went down.

I didn't scream. I bobbed once and went under.
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I used to be a lifeguard, and the only kid I ever had to save did exactly what this article describes. No noise, no thrashing. Just quietly sank below the surface and stayed under.
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Two weeks ago I dived in to save my son. We were in a pool that sloped down to the deep end. He was in the shallow end, he trod once on the slope, and slipped into the deep end, silently going under. Only his face bobbing back up for a mili second, made me realise. My mum was half a foot from him.
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Oh gosh, well done you.
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When I was maybe 5 I went one step too far down stairs into a swimming pool. I frantically thrashed underwater and managed to pinch my father, who was standing in the pool near me. He picked me up and put me back on the shallower steps. Of course, I got into trouble for pinching him.
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As a longtime lifeguard/swim instructor as a young person I saved 2 kids who just sank down to the bottom. Itโ€™s like you get tunnel vision and go into slowmo. Once during swim lessons, once during free swim.
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I was not taught these signs when I was a lifeguard. In the city pool where I worked - full of kids whose parents had dropped them off for the day, I probably would not have noticed a kid going through this.
Decades later, I still thank God that nobody ever drowned on my shift. I was so, so lucky.
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Even now, I cannot relax by a body of water if there are people in it. I have to watch them.

Thank you for this story - now I have better information.
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Agreed. Iโ€™ve saved two children from drowning. Both quietly immersed under the water without any noise or splashing.
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Hero
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When I was 11, drowning looked like the tips of my little brother's hair waving above the water at the shallow end of the pool. (All I had to do was hoist him onto the side.)
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Thank you
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Wow! Thanks for this. We swim at a nearby lake a lot this time of year and this is completely new info for me. Itโ€™s great to know what to keep an eye out for.
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"...of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult"
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Thanks. Did not know.
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Thank you so very much.๐Ÿฅฐ
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A company trying to make drowning less likely in managed swimming areas: wavedds.com/
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Excellent
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Also be safe during electrical storms: www.boston.com/news/massachusetts-obituaries/2025/06/27/local-obituary-jake-rosencranz-29-year-old-weston-native-struck-by-lightning-on-florida-vacation/
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Important read. I avoid water higher than my chest after a couple of scares growing up. I managed to get to safety both times but I remember being both embarrassed and angry that no one came to my aid. I know now that they didnโ€™t realize how desperate and panicked I felt.
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I know Iโ€™ve read this article in the past, but when I go to open it this year to double check I remember what it says, itโ€™s behind the paywall. Not a great look...
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Very important info to know: if anyone is saved from drowning bring them to the ER immediately. Drowning can cause complications even after being saved/resuscitated and unless you are a medical professional and know which symptoms are fine and which aren't err on the side of caution.
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Yep. Saved a kid myself who looked like he was just bobbing โฌ†๏ธ& โฌ‡๏ธin a plunge pool. I was swinging my LO in a hammock watching him for a few secs until I realised. He couldnโ€™t swim & think he slipped off the seat & the centre was too deep. A load of mums stood around chatting & didnโ€™t notice. V scary.
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Such a common scenario in drowning. Well done you!
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Thanks Trish. Noted ๐Ÿ‘
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HUH. This was good, useful knowlege. I hope I never have to use it!
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Many years ago I trained with the Amateur Swimming Association, now Swim England, to teach young children to swim. Drummed into me to always have at least one person โ€˜spottingโ€™ out of water & watching to check everyone was OK. Second was remember small children have small lungs & drown quickly.
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Perfect time to read this. ๐ŸŒž๐ŸŒŠ๐Ÿฆ€
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THIS ONE: "From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response peopleโ€™s bodies remain upright in the water..."

I used to be a lifeguard. When somebody is vertical in the water they need to be watched closely.
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Me too. I always scanned for eyes. That's how people tell you they're drowning when they can't speak.
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I'd already read something similar, but read this too, because I thought I could do with a top-up.
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When I was training to be a lifeguard after they described what drowning looked like we watched a video of a busy beach and after five minutes they circled the two people who were drowning in it. A real wake up call.
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There used to be an ad on Australian television that said "This is the sound of a drowning child" and then it just played silence for awhile.
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We had a similar one in the UK a few years back. It should be replayed in the run-up to summer every year.
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Thank you very much for this important information.
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The video link embedded in this article is long defunct, so here's one that shows the instinctive drowning response: there is a transcript embedded in the comments area of the video for those who want it

youtu.be/X1mVcSUttX4?feature=shared
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I'm about to read this because I have little kids, but the thing that scared the hell out of me was my wife pointing out that people often drown to death *silently*. You don't hear them. The just aren't there any more because they're underwater, DROWNING.
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People think if their kids fall off the dock or the edge of the boat, you can just jump in and grab them. But once they go under they can be very difficult to find.

Life jackets for all non-swimmers.
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๐Ÿซข
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www.facebook.com/aquasafenz/videos/clip-from-frank-pias-on-drowning-showing-the-instinctive-drowning-response-this-/10150958569040420/
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Thank you!

Although I have issue with the narrator describing being on a beach with thousands of other people as "relaxing".
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I distinctly remember as a 10 year old seeing a younger child bobbing in the water at a cottage and wondering why this little one was farther out into the lake than I was. Luckily an adult saw she was in trouble and rescued her before she drowned.
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Oh Jeez the last time I was at a wave pool I experienced this but as soon as it started I knew something was wrong so I started walking towards the shallow section underwater between each wave and was able to recover alone but I did not realize I was that close to drowning...
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Thanks for posting this. Growing up on the bay, near ocean, and so many water communities here, many just donโ€™t know. They assume itโ€™s a textbook โ€œhelpโ€ and itโ€™s not.
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My dad watched and smiled with a beer in his hand as I nearly drowned behind his sailboat as an adult. I've never been more terrified, and he had no idea at all.
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I was involved in research of drowning/near-drowning in children & married to an ex lifeguard
So abroad, around unguarded pools, we were on high alert
Canโ€™t tell you how many other peoples small children we rescued when they strayed out of their depth, parents obliviously sunbathing/reading/asleep
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We had to be alert as our youngest would constantly choose to go out of her depth
โ€œYou canโ€™t go there until youโ€™re a confident swimmerโ€
โ€œI am a confident swimmerโ€
โ€œThatโ€™s the wrong sort of confidence.
Come back nowโ€
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Wow! I didnโ€™t know this thank you
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Maybe a big account like @markhamillofficial.bsky.social or @georgetakei.bsky.social could get some more eyeballs on this?
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Jesus I had no clue, thanks for sharing
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That's very frightening. If only a soap opera would make a storyline out of it.
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That's an excellent idea. One storyline on breast cancer (Y&R in the US)saw an increase in screenings. You never know who might see it.
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Like when it was on Grange Hill?
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Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for sharing. I was thinking about this article yesterday and wondering when you might post it.
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Thank you. Iโ€™ve just completed a safety near water course for work (construction) and learnt a LOT about drowning, stuff I shouldโ€™ve known when I was a swimming coach!
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Thanks you for sharing. Good checklist of what to notice!
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I was once just 1 metre from a teenager drowning in a busy 1.50m deep pool, all exactly as you describe. Luckily I realised and dragged him to safety
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Great post! Years ago I was a volunteer at a kindergarten swimming session at the teachers indoor pool. Little boy was right in front of me. He went down.He came up. Went down.I was shocked it was SO quiet and unsure of what I was seeing. Grabbed him, brought him up and set him out.
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Teacher didnโ€™t believe me. As an adult he told my son that I had saved his life and he would never forget me. I was watching it and doubted what I was seeing. People need to know this. I always insisted my sons wear bright, non blue, neon shirts when the had school swimming days after this.
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Point 5 is definitely why I had a lifeguard check in on me once. I was just idly trying out if I could float vertically with just my head tipped back, which I could, but the lifeguard (entirely rightly!) called out. I told him I was fine and he left me to it. Weird feeling to see this later, though.
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About lost my son this way, standing right beside him in a pool. Very scary. Ty for posting.
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I saved a kid in Austin, TX after reading this two years ago. Thank you.
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How wonderful - thatโ€™s five at least.
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Damn, well done you!
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๐Ÿ“Œ drowning
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Joe and Petunia sprang to mind
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As an ex lifeguard, yes, thankyou!
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Thank you so much Trish. That is so counterintuitive. I only ever swim in a pool with other old folk and a lifeguard but itโ€™s worth knowing. I will forward the article to my children so that they are aware!
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My mom dove fully clothed after a toddler who jumped off the diving board at our country club pool. She was the only one who noticed him.
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Also! Never offer part of your body to a drowning person if you cannot reach the bottom yourself. Offer them a stick.. a towel....your bathing suit... anything but you. My cousin was drowning...went to help...she climbed on me...arms & legs around me...I had to kick her off & pull her by her hair.
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Thanks for the reminder. Last time you posted this I think I responded to say Iโ€™d twice rescued people drowning. Had another near miss since then. Water is so much more dangerous than people realise. Keep your eyes open everyone.
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I once long ago saved a young girl from drowning. The only reason I knew it was because her friend who was with her was screaming. Otherwise, no-one would have noticed.
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And 40 years later, Iโ€™d quite categorically say that itโ€™s the most significant and consequential thing Iโ€™ve ever done.

Iโ€™ve had a good, productive, successful life, but that right there was why Iโ€™m here.
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Happened to me in the local swimming pool in my teens. Luckily I was with a friend who pulled me to safety. I can swim but have been so cautious ever since and constantly look out for others.
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This reminds me of someone in severe sleep apnea asleep, unable to wake up but suffocating and trying to breathe like a fish out of water.
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I've been sharing the same article by Mario Vittone for years, although the source links change now and then.
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I literally thought of this article *while* drowning, that's how much it stuck with me
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So true. A useful site to train your eye may be www.youtube.com/ href="/profile/LifeguardRescue">@LifeguardRescue
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So important. People donโ€™t splash or cry for help. Theyโ€™re usually vertical & their legs look like theyโ€™re climbing a ladder. Their mouth is level with the water. They canโ€™t shout because they can barely breathe.
Itโ€™s easy to miss a child drowning if you donโ€™t recognise how different it is.
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Please continue to post this every summer.
I remember reading it before, but I NEEDED this refresher.
Head low in the water, not flailing their arms.
Head bobbing up and down mouth barely clear of the water.
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Thank you. Very enlightening, and useful read.
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"Ask them, โ€œAre you all right?โ€ If they can answer at allโ€”they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parentsโ€”children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why."
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A friend has 2 boys who when they were 9 & 10 were very good swimmers. On a sunny calm day they challenged each other to swim a relatively short distance to shore from a boat. After they hit the cold water they both sank. They would have drowned had their father not jumped in & saved them both.
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@gabirela.bsky.social
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Decent summary for people who prefer video www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjGsR-Mvk5c
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Thank you this is very very helpful ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ
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Thanks! Usually prefer text, but that was really helpful.
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Extremely relevant considering the article is locked behind a paywall for me. Thank you!
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"Dry drowning" is a thing too. Watch kids carefully if you do need to rescue them.
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Gosh yes.
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Coughing, difficulty breathing, fatigue, discolored skin--even hours or a day after the near-drowning incident--don't delay, get help right away.
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Been an ED nurse 28 yrs. I still remember my first yr there, 17 yr old dragged from the ressers. We tried to save him for hours. We were unsuccessful. I will never forget his mum. She was broken. Awful, just awful.
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Omg, I remember this exactly when I nearly drowned as a child. Going underwater 3 times, surfacing, no way to call out, just scrabbling, & a final gurgled 'help' before I went back under a 4th time. Luckily a lifeguard spotted me and jumped in - by then 2 of them were necessary to pull me up.
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Iโ€™ve almost drowned twice. You flail a tiny bit and then it starts to be over
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This is so true. I was a lifeguard at a swimming pool for 5 years and went in the water several times to rescue people. None of them were doing the splashing/shouting thing, all were just quietly struggling to keep their face above water (except one who smashed his head on the springboard!).
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This is so good. I nearly drowned as a kid in a pool where my Dad was the lifeguard. Luckily I kept my head and realized that by driving down to the bottom and pushing up at an angle I could โ€œjumpโ€ my way to the side of the pool, breathing each time I surfaced. Scary. Dad had no idea.
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I had a similar experience. Local pool, couldnโ€™t swim tho had had lessons, fell off a lilo. Somehow managed to save myself and get to the side, sat there coughing, spluttering. No one helped in pool or at the side. Strange thing tho - when I went back into the pool I found that I could swim!
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Choose your swimwear colors carefully, too.
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Better still, in a lake, wear a brightly coloured hat or even have a brightly coloured tow float. Lakes are very different to pools in the way that people at the side view them and even lighter/brighter swimwear can be lost in the water. Tow float has other obvious benefits too.
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Since the link on the article is dead for Slateโ€™s animated video representation of what the drowning response looks like, hereโ€™s a copy hosted on Youtube:

youtu.be/YL9wb4tUlhI
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Thank you for sharing the article. ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ™
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This gives me chills, happened to my son when he was 6. He's 22 now, but still a gut punch when I remember how quietly he was starting to drown. Thank you for sharing.
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The other day my daughter was telling me what it was like to be drowning before I yanked her out of a busy pool with lifeguards.
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Will always repost this. But my sensory seeking child basically does this (stays underwater, bobs up occasionally to gasp once and disappear) for minutes on end for fun. To the horror of all nearby adults & lifeguards. F***ing terrifying ๐Ÿ˜ณ
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Oh heck!
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Oh jeez I might have been frightening all the lifeguards too, I know I did this. In fact I still like to test how long I can swim underwater without breathing. Maybe the important trick is to make sure that your kid is a strong swimmer.
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Ha, I have a very vivid memory of doing this myself when I first learned to swim in my parentsโ€™ pool. I stayed below the water to listen to the sounds, and before I knew it my dad had jumped in fully dressed to scoop me out. Had no idea how much I scared him lol
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Mine does this too (or did do it). I started explaining to lifeguards before we got in otherwise it would be horrifying them.
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My daughter used to do the same as a young kid. Iโ€™d watch her face carefully at all times, and the lifeguards got to know us. I reminded her about it when she became a lifeguard as a teenager, and she was horrified!
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I did the same as a kid, I loved being underwater. I think a good indicator if a kid is doing that for fun or drowning is that when I would do it I would usually launch myself out of the water, take a really big overexaggerated gasp and then go back under by pointing my head down and doing a sort of
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Yes my son does this. I'm frequently reminding him that he's scaring the poor teenage lifeguards, and to give them a thumbs up every so often to show he's ok ๐Ÿ™ˆ
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A fun (?) interactive way to learn more is by playing spotthedrowningchild.com/ - a little morbidly titled, but all the kids end up okay
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Wow that was so Quick!
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Thank you
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Yaman was born to the sound of bombs instead of lullabies.
A child who has known nothing but cold and hungerโ€”he needs only milk and diapers.
Let us be the warmth of this world for him, before cruelty takes him as it has taken so many before.
www.gofundme.com/f/support-ali-jendias-family-in-crisis
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I had no idea.
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Thank you for posting this!โค๏ธ
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And each year I repost it! A friend went on holiday to Galicia last year and saw this, and she sent me pictures a day or so later - sheโ€™d correctly identified a rip tide! ๐Ÿ™
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Frustrating we have to learn about how dangerous water is, rather than how important it is to have had formal lessons before risking going into deep water. Almost uniformly the issue in these cases. The water temperature is factor but generally an excuse.
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And for adults, alcohol/drugs. Don't mix them with swimming.
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