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Subscriber only It is not like the movies, with flailing arms splashing the water and gurgled cries for help. It is silent, quick and a leading killer of children and young people. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death among young people with the greatest toll among children under the age of five, new data has found. James Cook University Associate Professor Richard Franklin said 10 years of data from Australia, New Zealand and Canada found a drop in drowning deaths among people under 20, but a large increase in drownings for adolescent females and First Nations peoples. Many more children are impacted by non-fatal drowning, some experiencing long-term health impacts, said Dr Franklin.