Florida sets new record for child drownings, lawmakers look to reduce deaths

Michael Cuglietta, Orlando Sentinel on Nov 29, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — With a month to go in 2025, Florida has set a record for childhood drowning deaths this year, a grim statistic in a state that already leads the nation in children losing their lives in water.

Two Orlando lawmakers want to change that with required drowning prevention education information for new parents. State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, also wants the Legislature to pass new swimming pool rules for older homes, some of which are exempt from regulations requiring fences or alarms.

“There’s a crisis in our state,” Smith said. “We know that these drownings are preventable. And raising awareness around the risk of drowning is a key objective.”

If passed, Smith’s three-bill package would add drowning prevention to a state-mandated postpartum education program already in place. The package would also set new regulations for homes with swimming pools built prior to Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act of 2000.

The number of Florida children who died from drowning has been on the rise in recent years. In 2020, it was 65. Last year, it was 106. So far this year, there have been 110 deaths.

Florida’s abundance of water is part of the problem, said Nathalie Martin, founder of the Swim Global Project, an Orlando organization that supports water safety education worldwide.

“We’re surrounded by hundreds of miles of oceanfront. We’re surrounded also by homes with backyard pools,” Martin said.

Drowning deaths are more prevalent in low-income and Black communities. A study by USA Swimming found that 79% of children from low-income families have no or low swimming ability. And Black children are 1.5 times more likely to drown than their white peers.

“It’s very difficult for some families to access swimming lessons. One barrier is cost. Another barrier is distance,” Martin said.

About a quarter of the drowning deaths in Florida involved children with autism, as they tend both to wander away from caregivers and to be attracted to water, experts say.

Part of Smith’s legislation, which he is introducing with Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, looks to remove those barriers by educating families on the critical need for swimming lessons and linking them to places where they can get those lessons at little to no cost.

“The good news is we have a lot of resources and programs for families of all incomes to get access to swimming lessons and drowning prevention,” Eskamani said. “Our goal with this legislation is to make sure that everyone has access to those programs, those resources. And every family knows where they can find that support.”

Florida hospitals and birthing centers are already required to provide parents with postpartum education on topics like how to safely put a baby down to sleep and ways to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. The proposed legislation (SB 606 and HB 503), would add information about drowning prevention, including bathtub safety, to that mandate.

“It wouldn’t cost the state anything to implement this requirement,” Smith said. “I’ve had early conversations with my Republican senate colleagues and I’ve already gotten interest in pursuing this proposal.”

The two other parts of the Senate package are aimed at bringing older homes with swimming pools up to current code.

In 2000, Florida passed a law that mandated that new homes built with pools have a gate or a fence around the pool, enclose the pool in a screened porch, or have an alarm system on doors and windows leading to the pool or an alarm that sounds when someone enters the pool.

Homes with pools built prior to 2000 are not required to implement any of those safeguards. Smith’s legislation (SB 610) would require older homes to come up to current code when they are sold or there is a transfer of ownership.

Smith introduced similar legislation last year, but it died in committee.

The final piece of legislation in Smith’s package (SB 608) would require any home that is used as a short-term rental, including properties listed on Airbnb, to come up to code right away.

“I’m presenting a menu of proposals for the legislator to take action to prevent child drowning,” Smith said. “In a blink of an eye, in a matter of seconds, a child can gain access to a swimming pool that’s not secured, and that unfortunately can be tragic.”