Not Waving but Drowning Not Waving but Drowning "Not Waving but Drowning" is a poem by the British poet Stevie Smith. It was published in 1957 as part of a collection of the same title. The most famous of Smith's poems, it gives an account of a drowned man whose distressed thrashing in the water had been mistaken for waving. The poem was accompanied by one of Smith's drawings, as was common in her work. The poem's personal significance has been the topic of several pieces of literary criticism because Smith was treated for psychological problems. She contemplated suicide at the age of eight
Drowning walls. These signs, while suggestive of drowning, are not conclusive. Most drowning is preventable. It has been estimated that more than 85% of drownings could have been prevented by supervision, training in water skills, technology, regulation and public education. Many pools and designated bathing areas either have lifeguards, a pool safety camera system for local or remote monitoring, or computer-aided drowning detection. However, bystanders play an important role in drowning detection and either intervention or the notification of authorities by phone or alarm. Lifeguards may be unaware of a drowning due to "failure to recognize the struggle, the intrusion of