With the summer holidays now underway, many Australians will be hitting the beaches, waterways, and pools to cool down. However, this year’s National Drowning Report has offered a sober reminder to stay safe while having fun in the water. The most recent report found that 294 people lost their lives to drowning in 2020 and 2021, which was a 20 percent increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, a further 674 are estimated to have experienced a non-fatal drowning incident. Most drownings over that period occurred in rivers, with a three percent increase compared to the 10-year average. Swimming and water recreation were the leading activities prior to drowning. The annual report, which is released each September, provided data and analysis of fatal and non-fatal drownings across Australia for each financial year. As with the previous report, males made up the majority of all deaths (80 percent), with the largest numbers …