Weekends spent at the beach or by the pool are part of our lifestyle.

However, new statistics reveal 29 children aged 0-4 years tragically drowned in 2016/17 – serving as a sobering reminder of the need to constantly keep watch around water.

Last week, the annual Royal Life Saving National Drowning Report was released, and it has revealed a shocking year, with 291 people drowning in Australian waterways, 93 of which occurred in NSW.

Many Australians underestimate the dangers of our nation’s waterway.

Drowning deaths occurs in inland waterways and in swimming pools, not just on the coast.

In fact 68 people have drowned in rivers in the past year, followed by beaches (50 deaths), ocean/harbour locations (46 deaths) and swimming pools (44 deaths).

And it’s not just the young losing their lives.

A statistic that may shock many is 36 people aged 75 years and older drowned last year – a 38 per cent increase on the 10-year average.

This highlights the importance of being safe around waterways for all ages, including swimming between the flags, correct lifejacket use, reducing alcohol and drug consumption, checking weather forecasts and never swimming or boating alone.

In 2008, the Australian Water Safety Council set an ambitious goal of reducing drownings by 50 per cent by 2020.

With 2020 fast approaching good progress is being made with analysis showing an overall 24 per cent reduction in fatal drownings.

One would hate to imagine how much higher these statistics would be without the commitment and efforts of our lifeguards both on the beach and at our local pools, who give up their time to keep us safe.

As we head into the warmer months, I encourage everyone to be alert and aware around our waterways to avoid becoming one of the heartbreaking statistics.