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 chain Drowning chain The drowning chain is a series of conditions that on their own, or together can lead to a person being drowned. Each link in the chain can lead on to another link, or directly to a drowning or near drowning. The chain is used by lifeguards as a basis for targeting their activity at preventing, rather than reacting to, drowning or other incidents. The conditions that allow drowning to occur can be summarised by the 'drowning chain', in which each link can lead directly to an incident, or can lead on to the next link, and is shown