Free swimming lessons are offered across Ontario with the aim of reducing drownings. (CBC)

Free water-safety courses have popped up across Ontario this summer, mainly in response to the large number of drowning deaths in the province this year.

Last month, Ontario's acting chief coroner ordered a review of all the drowning deaths — 91 so far.

Many of the victims have been children, which has prompted municipalities and athletic clubs across the province to set up their own prevention plans.

Barbara Byers of the Royal Lifesaving Society of Ontario says swimming lessons can save many lives.

"Most drownings are preventable, like almost all of them," said Byers. "So the key thing is to get your adrenalin under control so you can think clearly and cognitively of what you have to do."

That's what the water-skills courses teach.

More involved

Lee Lewis, an Ottawa swimming instructor, says "people think of swimming lessons as just the lesson part, but there's a lot more involved."

Lewis's club, the Ottawa Athletic Club, started offering free swim clinics to children and adults because of the number of drownings in the region this year.

"The response has been overwhelming," Lewis said. "We just started advertising this week and on the first day we had 25 people register — 10 of those were adults interested in learning to swim, learning what their limits are."

Although many children have died in water accidents in Ontario this year, statistics show that most of those who drown each year are adults. Byers says adults are less likely than children to enrol in swimming lessons.

Byers also says more than 66 per cent of drownings in Ontario happen within 15 metres of shore or shallow water.