It's given them a chance to learn the skills needed for water safety while inland swimming, in places such as dams and rivers, where many of them will be enjoying a drip.

Instructor Debbie Gordois said the lessons helped young swimmers learn how to stay safe in "dirty water".

She runs through everything from safe footwear, to never swiming alone, floodwater and currents, and why lifejackets are vital, with her students. They even learn how to cope if a duck swims past.

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Mrs Gordois said all the children involved enjoyed the chance to swim in a different environment.

"It's just teaching them about different things, like it is okay to swim in dirty water if you make the right preparation if you check the things you need to check," she said.

Mrs Gordois said the Crusoe Reservoir lessons came about because of the feedback from parents. She said often when parents put their child in dirty water for the first time their response was that they thought the child was a better swimmer.

But Mrs Gordois said all the unfamiliar features - murky water, cold, wind - meant children needed to get used to the new environment.

Read more: Free swim lessons with focus on water safety

The summer swimming lessons come after a year where many children missed out on their regular classes.

Mrs Gordois said VicSwim expected extremely high numbers of children to have been unable to do regular swimming lessons during 2020 because of the pandemic.

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