A study conducted by David Ball of the Middlesex University revealed that between the years 1988 and 1992, water sports topped the list of most dangerous sports among adults in United Kingdom, with more than 40 percent of the reported fatalities caused by drowning.
It’s an unexpected twist of perception since most people would consider extreme sports such as hang-gliding, parachuting and others to be more dangerous. However, the study only stressed the importance for people to be extra careful doing water-related activities.
Based on the data, about 315 incidents out of 708 reported fatalities came from water sports such as swimming. Motor sports came in second with 65 fatalities while horse riding completed that top three with 62. Air and mountain climbing-related sports accounted to 51 deaths.
The reason behind the larger percentage of deaths from water sports is the fact that people spend more time on water rather than other events.
Based on the study, about 163 individuals die in sports-related accidents per year. These figures were based on the years specified on the study. There’s no indication yet if there’s a significant increase on fatalities from the years 1993 to 2009.