Florida TaxWatch Provides “Every Child a Swimmer” Update on Unintentional Drowning Deaths Among Florida Youth, Emphasizes Importance of Swimming Lessons

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released Every Child a Swimmer: 2024 Update, building on the March 2021 Every Child a Swimmer report, to examine unintentional drowning deaths among youth and emphasize the importance of swimming lessons as a means to prevent drowning in Florida.

The government watchdog also commends the Florida Legislature for supporting water safety legislation again this year, especially bills that will establish a statewide swimming lesson voucher program – Senate Bill 544, sponsored by Sen. Travis Hutson (R-Palm Coast), and House Bill 581, sponsored by the Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee and Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera (R-Coral Gables). The latter passed unanimously during the House Health & Human Services Committee meeting today, Thurs., Feb. 22.  

Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President & General Counsel and Acting President & CEO Jeff Kottkamp said, “With nearly 8,500 miles of shoreline and 1.59 million residential swimming pools – the most in the nation – various bodies of water are easily accessible throughout the Sunshine State. That’s why knowing how to swim is absolutely critical to safety and survival in Florida, especially among children and young people. Understanding this, as well as the personal and economic impact of drowning deaths, Florida TaxWatch urges parents and caregivers to enroll children in swimming lessons, and we thank the Florida Legislature for continuing to champion initiatives that will help facilitate such life-saving measures.”

According to FTW, over the past decade, drownings among Florida youth have remained relatively constant, however, unintentional drowning deaths have increased. Drowning deaths among children ages zero to four have decreased slightly, but for the four to 12 age group, it has almost doubled. 

Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that drowning deaths in Florida totaled 11,469 years of potential life lost in 2021. FTW cites that, if these drowning deaths can be avoided, there is a possible economic risk reduction ranging from $3 billion to $8 billion.

FTW asserts “water competence” as the key to preventing drowning deaths and notes that learning how to swim can reduce the chance of drowning by 88 percent. 

For more information and to access the full report, please click here.  

About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute for more than forty years and the trusted eyes and ears of Florida taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on taxpayers and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the taxpayers it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.