Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation held swim lessons Thursday across Charlotte to address drowning risks among children as summer pool season kicks into high gear.
At Double Oaks Family Aquatic Center, children ages 3–12 learned how to float and orient themselves in the water, as well as proper kicking techniques. Regional Manager for Recreation and Aquatics Genni Reel said that lessons like these make life-saving skills more accessible.
“Learning how to swim, having parents have ability to bring their kids to learn the right ways to enter the water—to enter it safely, to understand the risk of it—is important. And having accessible swim lessons is also important. Everybody needs an opportunity to learn to swim,” Reel said.
The event was just one of many lessons held across the county as part of the 16th World's Largest Swimming Lesson: an annual initiative that aims to teach children vital water safety techniques.
In 2020, a study by The American Red Cross found that just over half of Americans could not swim or did not have fundamental swimming skills. Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1–4 in the U.S. Certified swim lessons, like the ones held Thursday, can significantly reduce that risk—by as much as 88%.