Victorian beaches to be patrolled by lifesavers well past Easter next year

Victorian lifesaving patrols will be extended this year after a horror spike in drownings last year.

This weekend marks the official beginning of the patrol season, which usually runs until Easter at most beaches.

This year, it’ll be extended.

The change comes after 61 died by drowning last year, the highest drowning toll in more than 21 years.

Director of Learn To Swim Victoria, Joanne Love, says the extended patrols should remain in place for “the next few years”.

But she says there will be another danger period in about a decade.

“I think we’re also going to experience a huge increase in drowning rates in about 10 years when those six and seven-year-olds, their parents cut the apron strings, they turn 16, they go to the beach and they haven’t learnt how to swim so we get that spike in drownings,” she told Ross and Russel.

Ms Love says a “cultural shift” is underway, and fewer parents are making sure their kids are strong swimmers.

“We just did some research in the last two or three months and we found that 54 per cent of parents are not going to enrol their children in swimming lessons,” she said.

“There’s a lot of … children missing out.”

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