Following a tragic summer in which three people lost their lives in the sea off Mersea Island, former STA Ambassador and open water coach Vicky Malmsjo has been helping her local community turn heartbreak into action by increasing awareness and education around water safety.

Vicky is the founder of Swimspirational Open Water Coaching, based on Mersea Island in Essex, where she has been delivering open water sessions for more than seven years. During that time, she has helped thousands of people develop their confidence, knowledge and swimming skills in the sea.

Her sessions attract everyone from triathletes looking to improve their open water technique to recreational swimmers wanting to feel safer and more confident in the sea, as well as those learning about cold water acclimatisation and winter swimming.

But this summer, following the tragedy on the island, Vicky saw unprecedented demand for her Children’s Beach Safety Sessions.

Vicky said: “Mersea Island is a very special place and I feel incredibly lucky that this is where I get to work. What happened this summer had a profound impact on our small community and understandably made many families think more about water safety.

“I have always run Children’s Beach Safety Sessions during the summer holidays, but this year the demand multiplied. We had families travelling from London and even as far as the Midlands to take part.

“Over the six-week school holidays, I have been able to educate hundreds of children and their parents about how to stay safe at the beach and in the sea.”

Taking water safety education from the classroom into the sea

Each session begins with a 60-minute beach-based classroom using STA’s Water Safety Booklet to help children and their families understand how open water differs from the swimming pool environment.

Participants learn about the risks and hazards they may encounter at the coast, including tides and currents, what to do if caught in a rip current, the roles of the Coastguard and beach lifeguards, and how to respond safely if they or somebody else gets into difficulty.

The learning then moves into the water, giving children and their parents the opportunity to practise vital sea survival skills including Float to Live, treading water and signalling for help.

Vicky added: “Being able to swim is important, but being a confident pool swimmer doesn’t automatically mean somebody understands how to stay safe in open water.

“The sea is a completely different environment, and giving children the knowledge to recognise risks, make safer choices and know what to do in an emergency is just as important as developing their swimming ability.

“As a former STA Ambassador, water safety education is something I am incredibly passionate about, and if we can give children these skills from an early age, they are lessons they can carry with them throughout their lives.”

A community-wide response

The work has extended far beyond Vicky’s own sessions.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, people and organisations across Mersea Island have come together to help improve water safety awareness for residents and the many visitors who come to the island each year.

A dedicated water safety guide has been created highlighting specific areas and sea locations around the island that can pose additional risks to water users. The information has been distributed to beach hut owners, caravan parks and local businesses to help important safety messages reach as many visitors as possible.

Vicky is also working alongside West Mersea Beach Hut Watch and West Mersea Lifeboat Station to develop a water safety programme that can be delivered to local schools and other organisations.

Ten lifebuoys have also been installed along the beachfront, while local residents have organised fundraising to further improve water safety provisions around the island.

Vicky said: “What has been so powerful to see is the way the whole community has responded. Everyone wants to do what they can to prevent another family experiencing such a devastating loss.

“Education has a huge part to play in that. We cannot remove every risk associated with open water, but we can give people the knowledge and skills to understand those risks and know what to do if something goes wrong.

“Mersea Island is doing everything it can to make water safety more visible, accessible and understood, and I am incredibly proud to be part of that work.”

Helping water safety messages reach every community

Vicky’s work in Mersea also reflects STA’s wider commitment to making vital water safety education as accessible as possible.

This summer, STA expanded its free water safety resources with multilingual versions of its Water Safety Code and Float to Live materials, helping members, partners and community organisations share potentially lifesaving information with people whose first language is not English.

The downloadable resources are designed to be displayed and shared in places where water safety messages can have the greatest impact, including swimming pools and leisure centres, schools, community venues, beaches, holiday parks and other waterside locations.

STA is encouraging members to support the campaign by downloading and sharing the resources within their own communities and, wherever possible, helping them reach groups who may otherwise face language barriers when accessing water safety information.

Vicky added: “Water safety information needs to be understood by everyone. Mersea welcomes visitors from many different places and backgrounds, so making clear, simple safety messages available in different languages is another really important way we can help people make safer choices around the water.”

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