But the water is also a dangerous place which can hurt and sadly even kill people at any time.

The tragedy on Tuesday night, when an eight-year-old Wodonga boy drowned at Lake Hume, was the most devastating example of what could happen.

Many parents would understand the feeling of panic when losing sight of a child for 10 minutes because he or she has wandered off.

But the realisation that child has stopped breathing while in the water is something no parent should ever have to suffer.

Our thoughts are with the little boy’s family in what must be the most difficult time. As we approach the halfway mark of summer, the North East has already experienced two tragic drownings.

The first was a 27-year-old Malaysia man who went under the water after jumping over rocks and doing flips in the Ovens River at Myrtleford in December.

The woman who narrowly avoided becoming the second victim on Christmas Day could have looked after herself by not swimming drunk in the Murray River at Albury.

Marty Corboy also sent his sympathies to the family of the boy who drowned on Tuesday – the Milawa father understood the terror well, after his own two-year-old son stopped breathing in a Wangaratta pool.

Young Nicholas might have made a full recovery, but he is part of a growing list of reasons swimmers need to be more careful.

It can be easy to tune out the repeated warnings from water safety groups because Australians have always loved the water and have always been warned about the dangers.

The familiar messages – remember all waterways can be dangerous, never take eyes off children around water, 20 seconds is all it takes for someone to drown – are repeated so often because they are the difference between life and death.

Considering the summer we have had, they are warnings that will be repeated for weeks to come.

To the Border residents who are regular swimmers: please keep being careful, and to visitors to our region: watch out around our lakes and rivers.

Let this week be the last time a family has to mourn a tragic drowning.