Men make up 4 in 5 drownings

ALMOST 80 per cent of all coastal drownings in the region in the past 14 years have been men, a national safety report reveals.

The National Coastal Safety Report 2018 compiled by Surf Life Saving Australia shows drownings in Victoria increased in the past year with 30 recorded in Greater Geelong, the Borough of Queenscliffe and the Surf Coast Shire since 2004.

Of the 30 deaths, the average age of the victim was 49 and more than half took place close to the beach.

Forty per cent of the drownings took place while people were swimming or wading, while others resulted from people falling into the water while boating, scuba diving, snorkelling, surfing or bodyboarding.

Of the 10 deaths at or near Surf Coast Shire beaches since 2004, seven happened when the victim was swimming or wading, and two people died while lifesavers were attempting to rescue them.

Surf Life Saving Australia president Graham Ford urged the public to swim at patrolled beaches.

“Surf lifesavers can’t be everywhere, and too often people think they can identify a rip current or other hazards but get it wrong,” Mr Ford said.

“By finding a patrolled location you have some comfort knowing that someone else is looking out for you.”

He said 110 of the 173 lives lost near Australian coastline in 2017-18 were a result of drowning.

“I would like to recognise the 10,249 rescues that were performed by our volunteer surf lifesavers — without these significant efforts there would have been an additional 512 coastal and ocean drowning deaths,” Mr Ford said.

In the past year 31 per cent of coastal drowning deaths occurring within 1km of lifesavers.