Swimming skills crucial during summer months

TOPEKA - (KSNT) May is swim safety awareness month.

As summer approaches, it's prime time to enroll in swimming lessons. With pools and lakes opening for the season, it's important your kids are comfortable and confident in the water.

Practicing techniques like kicking and floating can help save your child from drowning. According to the Children's Safety Network, drowning is responsible for more than 1 in 10 unintentional injury deaths in children and adolescents.

Brooke McKinley is a veteran swim instructor and has taught over 300 kids necessary swimming skills. She tells 27 News, it's crucial kids know how to respond when panicking in water.

"Often kids look at the pool as a play area, which they should, but it also brings a lot of risks. Make sure that they know what to do if they fall in, or if they get into a situation that they are uncomfortable in and practice it," McKinley said.

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