How to make sure your child is a fearful wimp forever.
That kid’ll grow up to be an adult who is afraid of absolutely everything and will also be resentful of his/her parents. Utter loons.
I wasn’t taught to swim perhaps by the kindest teachers but I was taught well. I was told that water was indeed dangerous, but being terrified of it would just lead to panic and death if something went wrong. I was taught how to handle rip currents (very easy to deal with, by the way), what to do if I got too tired to swim (float on back until recovered), how to tread water for a long time, and how to rescue someone drowning without also getting myself killed in the process.
As as result, I am a very confident and very good swimmer who you might be able to drown if you hit me over the head repeatedly with a baseball bat while I was in the water. Even then, I might take the bat from you and drown you instead.
That kid on the other hand, the first time they have a hint of a problem in the water or get into water by accident is going to be just dead. Good work.