Border business Poolwerx owners Rob and Michelle Hudson said 12 per cent of drowning deaths this summer had occurred in pools and nominating a designated adult to supervise swimmers was imperative.

“It’s not good enough to just expect that someone will be keeping an eye on swimmers; you need to have formally nominated a responsible adult,” Mr Hudson said.

Water safety advocate Laurie Lawrence said research into private pool drownings in children under 5 showed that there was no supervision in 64 per cent of cases.

“Poolwerx has created the concept of a responsible pool person for parties to ensure safety is a priority and that someone is dedicated to supervision and not distracted at a party,” he said. 

Pool owners can visit Poolwerx stores to get a free “responsible pool person” hat for their nominated swimming supervisor.