The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) has launched its 2006 Get Safe 4 Summer water safety campaign.

Get Safe 4 Summer alerts children, their teachers and parents to the risks of summer swimming and demonstrates simple rescue and resuscitation techniques that could be life-saving.

The campaign is now in its fourth year and aims to reach more than 1,400 school children during June and July at 15 schools and leisure centres across the UK before visiting coastal and inland waters during the summer holidays.

The ASA eventually intends to reach around 28,000 schools throughout the UK with the campaign.

Get Safe 4 Summer is supported by a number of Olympic swimmers and the ASA has partnered the Royal Life Saving Society and PESSCL in order to deliver its water safety message to as many children as possible.

Olympic swimmer Steve Parry fully supports the ASA initiative. He said: “A few simple skills could be the difference between life and death – it’s as simple as that.

“Teenage boys are most at risk of drowning, but hopefully, by teaching them about the dangers at a younger age, they will realise that bravado can easily turn into tragedy. The Get Safe 4 Summer campaign is a great way of reinforcing safety messages in a fun way.”

According to the ASA, which is the national governing body for swimming, on average, one person drowns in the UK every 17 hours and drowning remains the third highest cause of accidental death amongst children. Details: www.swimming.org

Photograph: Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist James Gibson at the Norwich event, part of the 2006 Get Safe 4 Summer campaign