One thing I am very passionate about is the importance of having children taught to swim as early as possible. You can start them taking lessons in the water as early as eight weeks of age and one British Mum recently thanked the gods she did just that.

Her little girl, aged two, recently fell into the pool – the gate was left unlocked so Mum deserves a severe dressing down for that – but because the child had been having water lessons since she was eight weeks of age she was able to paddle to the side of the pool and hang on until Mum found her.

Children much older than this little girl have drowned in the same circumstances simply because they could not even dog paddle or tread water.  As an Australian I have read of too many tragedies where children drown in backyard pools, in the UK the problem is endemic and there is no excuse for it.

We teach our kids to talk, to walk, not to talk to strangers and hold a spoon – swimming is just as vital a survival instinct and one that is literally life saving.  Not having your child taught to swim, in my opinion, is criminal negligence – swimming lessons should be mandatory for all children.