Parents are being warned by Royal Life Saving ACT to keep a close eye on their children at public pools this summer through a new campaign called ‘Keep Watch @ Public Pools’.

“Many parents mistakenly believe that the lifeguard is responsible for supervising their child,” said Sean Hodges, executive officer, Royal Life Saving ACT.

“The role of the lifeguard is to ensure the safety of all pool patrons - as they can have hundreds of patrons to supervise at any one time, parents and carers must take responsibility for their own child’s safety at aquatic facilities.”

It was recently revealed in Royal Life Saving’s 2007 National Drowning Report that there were nine public pool drowning deaths in 2006-2007 financial year.

“The Keep Watch @ Public Pools program is the best child safety initiative to ever hit the aquatic industry,” said John Taverner, manager of Manuka Pool.

“Swimming is part of every Australian summer, yet unfortunately too many lives continue to be lost to avoidable drownings. As an industry we encourage parents and carers to keep watch and fully embrace any educational program to avoid drowning deaths.”