The program, which is aimed at children older than four, will run at the Black Hill, Buninyong and Eureka pools in one week blocks from January 9 to 27.

A one-week course includes five 40-minute sessions, covering a range of swimming and water safety skills. The normal cost of the program is $25 per person.

YMCA Ballarat chief executive officer Malcolm Healey said while families would still have to pay an entry fee to the pool, providing the water safety program free would significantly reduce the cost of lessons.

“We think aquatic education is a key component to healthy kids, and safety around the water is a skill they can always use,” Mr Healey said.

“Our policy is that no one should be denied access to our programs because of an inability to pay.”

Mr Healey said the summer courses would complement the pool’s new school water safety program, as not all schools in the Ballarat region participated in the program.

Aquatics and Recreation Victoria chief executive officer Ian Swan said children enrolled in the course would receive high quality swimming and water safety training. He said with the recent end of Australia’s drought, it was even more important that children learned these skills.

“The main message we’re trying to get across is that children can drown in only 20 seconds,” Mr Swan said.

“We’ve just come out of a decade of drought and there is a lot of flowing water, so it’s important that the kids have these skills.”

Mr Healey said the YMCA had spent thousands of dollars ensuring the program would be run free, and encouraged all Ballarat families in the region to make use of it.

“We want as many kids as possible to do the course,” he said.

“If we could get 1000 kids this summer we would be delighted.”

Enrolment forms for the Summer Kidz program are available at the Eureka Pool head office, and children can also be enrolled online at www.vicswim.com.au.