In a country composed of 7,641 islands and one of the world’s longest coastlines, a bizarre phenomenon stands out—around half of Filipinos can’t swim without assistance. This puzzling contradiction raises questions about how residents of an archipelagic nation could be so disconnected from the waters that surround them.
Why is it that so many people in the Philippines can’t swim? The answer is an intricate interplay of socioeconomic disparities, lack of accessible education, and cultural attitudes.
The Struggle to Stay Afloat
For many Filipinos, staying afloat takes precedence over swimming.
“Most people are just too busy working or making money, so they don’t have that spare time to teach us how to swim,” shared Filipina content creator Rubeauti in a vlog. Her parents know how to swim by virtue of growing up near lakes and rivers, but lacked both the time to teach her and the willingness to pay for lessons.
The cost of swimming lessons ranges from ₱3,000 to ₱10,000 depending on location, duration, and type of instruction—that’s up to half a month’s salary for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila. Most swimming programs are privately run, with no government subsidies or public alternatives, placing them out of reach for average Filipino families.
Economic pressures also gave rise to urban migration, further contributing to the swimming paradox. Millions of local migrants gravitate toward urban centers in search of jobs, with top destinations being NCR, CALABARZON, Davao, and other economic hubs that together generated 73% of the country’s GDP in 2018. In effect, many Filipinos move away from coastal areas to congested cities where access to bodies of water is limited, and swimming pools are scarce and come at steeper price points.
“All schools must train their students on this, but it never happens,” laments Arne Navarra, the president of the Philippine Life Saving Society.
Filipino educational institutions rarely include swimming in their physical education programs. While outdoor activities like swimming can appear in the curriculum, the lack of swimming pool facilities drive instructors to focus on other activities instead.
Even in Metro Cebu, where beaches are just one to two hours away, bureaucracy creates additional barriers. “We have a hard time because there are so many permits required, especially since the students are still minors,” a PE teacher for senior high school students said.
In contrast, in some countries, swimming programs are institutionalized and offered early. In Australia, their Royal Life Saving’s Swim and Survive program offers classes for infants as young as six months. Several countries including Austria, France, and Germany have also made swimming lessons mandatory in elementary school curriculums.
“In my school, our PE teacher taught us how to swim. That’s how I learned the basics,” said Xenah Sumalinog, a freediving advanced instructor at Pacific Blue Freediving. She grew up in Malaysia and has since moved to the Philippines where she holds multiple national records.
A country’s economic standing is strongly associated with its population’s swimming ability. An OECD working paper found that while roughly 75% of adults in high-income nations can swim without assistance, this drops to 38% in lower-middle-income countries like the Philippines.
Without school-based programs, learning to swim becomes dependent on private resources or family instruction, both of which are lacking for many Filipinos.
Undercurrents of Culture
In the Philippines, swimming ability often runs in the family. While economic access and location play crucial roles, familial influence can persist across generations.
“My entire family, my ate, my kuya, my younger sibling, until now, they don’t know how to swim,” shared Marion Sumalinog, a freediving instructor trainer. “My father himself doesn’t know how to swim so in turn, we didn’t learn.” Sumalinog only learned how to swim when he started freediving eight years ago after an island-hopping trip in Moalboal with peers who could dive.
Studies confirm that swimming ability, or inability, tends to be inherited, passed down through generations like a family trait. Parents who swim may be more likely to have children who swim.
Sometimes, what’s passed down isn’t swimming competency but a fear of water. “Our parents, instead of teaching us how to swim, they’d teach us fear instead,” noted one Filipino in an online discussion. “They’d tell us not to go to deep water because we’ll drown… now the fear of drowning is ingrained.”
With lessons available only to those who can afford them and schools failing to teach swimming as a basic requirement, swimming has become a perceived “luxury”—a nice to have, but not necessary for survival or success.
A Public Health Crisis
When a nation surrounded by water can’t swim, people die.
The Philippines loses an average of 10 citizens to drowning every day. While debates about swimming education continue, bodies are being recovered from waters across the archipelago at an alarming rate.
“Death rates due to drowning decreased in all countries in the [Western Pacific] Region except for one, the Philippines,” the World Health Organization reported, referring to data from 2000 to 2021.
More than 3,000 Filipinos die of drowning every year, or an average of 10 lives lost a day. This led Navarra to describe drowning as an “epidemic” in the country.
The risk becomes particularly visible during holidays. Last Holy Week, 19 people died in drowning incidents as thousands flocked to beaches and resorts. The previous year saw a more devastating toll of 72 drowning fatalities during the same period.
Climate change exacerbates these risks. Typhoons and flash floods are more frequent and intense, disproportionately affecting coastal communities and increasing drowning hazards. The Philippines ranks 10th in the world as the most affected country to consistently suffer from extreme weather events, based on the latest Global Climate Risk Index.
“I’ve seen the rise in sea level. It’s really different from before,” shared Marion, recounting how the high tide could submerge the entire staircase at Club Kontiki Resort where he’s taught diving for the past seven years. The waters couldn’t reach those heights in the past, but it does now.
The Philippine government has a national water safety strategy aimed at reducing drowning mortality by 50% by 2026. However, implementation is limited, with low coverage for swim skills training nationally.
Several legislative efforts attempted to address the issue—bills in the House of Representatives to mandate swimming classes in schools and Senate proposals requiring lifeguards at all public swimming facilities—but none have become law.
“Philippines are still moving parts around for water safety education and drowning prevention,” said Coach Danilo R. Salonga Jr., the Secretary General of the Philippine Life Saving Society.
Community-led Initiatives
Some community organizations are taking matters into their own hands. The Philippine Life Saving Society offers volunteer-based training programs, while Pacific Blue Freediving and similar organizations spark interest in watersports.
Some diving instructors recommend open water or freediving training as an effective way to overcome water fear early, building competence alongside confidence.
“People who excel at swimming in pools often struggle when they’re placed in the ocean or deeper waters. They get rattled or scared, which affects their swimming ability,” said Marion. Pacific Blue Freediving, where he teaches, has had triathletes learn freediving for the purpose of overcoming this fear.
Social media is also encouraging water engagement by showcasing underwater experiences previously invisible to many Filipinos. Freediving, for instance, is known for its aura dives and aesthetic underwater shots which invites others to try it and learn to swim in the process.
Swimming education in the Philippines could also benefit from more creative approaches. Salonga, for instance, commends the Department of Education’s drowning prevention webinars that launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Partnership with local water safety and watersports organizations was also recommended. “I understand that most schools can’t afford or access pools but at least an annual field trip of swimming classes would be good,” suggested Xenah. To deal with resource constraints, schools can tap organizations with pool facilities and instructors.
In a country where water defines both geography and increasing climate risks, the ability to swim may become not just a matter of recreation but of national resilience.