Thirty-one kids, ranging from age 3 to high school, participated in the World's Largest Swim Lesson at the Warrenton Aquatic Center on June 22.
The participants were given a basic swim lesson, and learned how to float, tread water, swim across the deep end and more during the 45 minute event. Multiple instructors taught during the lesson, including Tami Wurth, Livia Hasenauer, Marilyn Parsons, Susie Meneau, and Sam Pickslay.
"I feel it's really important to get the message out that swimming is a life survival skill and that everybody should have the opportunity for swim lessons at least once for free so that we can at least get to all of the children and adults and let them know how important it is for swim safety," says Lisa Kramer, aquatics director for Warrenton.
Since its inception in 2010, the World's Largest Swim Lesson has welcomed more than 354,000 people to a live event, provided more than 170,000 hours of water safety training and spread the "swimming lessons save lives" message to more than Two and a half billion kids and adults.
The issue is a matter of life and death for all children around the world. Research released by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2021 shows drowning has become THE single leading cause of death for children ages 1-4.
The issue impacts families and children everywhere around the world – regardless of geography, race or economics. According to the World Health Organization, drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide.
"Today is just a start," Kramer said. "Nobody can learn to swim in a day or a seven-week session, or even a year. Swimming is a skill that is lifelong and always constantly working on the mechanics and development of strokes and endurance."
