January 2023 Newsletter
The 2023 California Water Safety Summit is a forum for collaboration on practices, programs, and policies that reduce drowning and aquatic injuries.
Join us on April 25 and 26, 2023 at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego for a collaborative summit aimed at building multi-sectoral partnerships for drowning and aquatic injury prevention in California! The Summit will feature a variety of presentations and conversations across a range of drowning prevention topics, and serve as the launch event for The California Water Safety Strategy. Additional information on the agenda, speakers and linked Summit events will be posted on the Summit webpage as details are finalized. Special hotel rates for the Summit are available now, click here to book your room reservation.
Early Bird registration opens 10:00 AM on January 31st!
February 16, 2023 Webinar:
Open water safety
Please join us February 16th at 12:00PM for this one-hour webinar focused on open water drowning prevention. This session will cover water safety topics pertinent to beaches, lakes and rivers, including presentations from the California Department of Boating and Waterways, the National Weather Service, and others!
Upcoming events and dates:
National Water Safety Conference in Colorado; Feb 13
Webinar: Local Water Safety Proclamations (March date TBD)
CA Water Safety Summit in San Diego; April 25 & 26
World Conference on Drowning Prevention in Perth, Australia; Dec 2 - 8
More events to add? Let us know here!
CWSC Water Safety Partner Spotlight
New pool heaters will increase access and programming
The City of San Bernardino is excited to have pool heaters installed at the Jerry Lewis Family Swim Center. These heaters bring year-round access to pools in a city whose demographic fall below the national standards for access to public swim facilities and also where 65% of residents fall under the national poverty level. While most might not see heaters as a big deal, we see this as a very encouraging move by the City. With the pool heaters, now we don’t have to wait for the sun to warm up the pool to a temperature that is appropriate, and pool use will extend beyond the summer! Year round pool access means we will be able to provide more zero to low cost swim lessons, it permits the community to be fit in aquatic exercise with additional programming, and allows young and old to find a safe place to socialize, energize and feel the wonderful effects of water.
Submitted by: Lydie Gutfeld, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services at the City of San Bernardino
Recent research on adult drowning prevention and learning to swim
A Review of Interventions for Drowning Prevention Among Adults
This article, published by researchers from Curtin University in Western Australia, provides an update to the knowledge base on drowning prevention interventions focused on adults. The researchers identified that adult drowning prevention interventions need to be multi-strategy and context-specific. Read the article published in the Journal of Community Health here.
Learning to Swim and Swimming Skills Among Parents and Their Children in Chicago
This study was published in December 2022 in the journal Pediatrics and focuses on the relationships between a child’s swim skills and their parents swimming experiences. The researchers found racial/ethnic disparities in parent and child experiences with swim lessons that were associated with parental comfort and child competence with swimming skills. Read the article here.
Expression of interest for California Water Safety Coalition Board of Directors
Are you interested in joining the CWSC Board of Directors? The CWSC is looking for interested candidates to fill vacant board positions. Please get in touch to learn more.
Support the California Water Safety Coalition
As the California Water Safety Coalition gears up for a busy year, we invite you to support our work and have a hand in making water safety a priority in our state.
We can’t do this without you!