To mark the end of National Water Safety Month, SWIMkids USA, along with City of Peoria pools, Mesa Golfland/Sunsplash, and the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center at ASU, will be participating in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson. They hope to make their way into the Guinness World Records for the largest simultaneous swim lesson ever held and, more importantly, to raise awareness of drowning prevention and the importance of teaching children to swim.
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, which will be taking place on Thursday June 3rd at 7am, adheres to strict guidelines in order to meet Guinness’s eligibility requirements. The lesson must be at least 30 minutes long and have a minimum of 25 participants. The instructor(s) as well as all the participants must remain the same. If a child leaves the pool and ends the lesson early, he will not be counted. SWIMkids USA expects to exceed the minimum number of participants (and still has room for those who want to participate). The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson has planned a basic, beginner swim lesson that will be 45 minutes long so that as many children as possible can participate. SWIMkids USA welcomes the public to cheer on the kids and be spectators to the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson. Coffee and juice will be served and there is a great play area for the little ones.
Drowning prevention and learning to swim are crucial here in Arizona. Just a few days ago, a two-year old nearly drowned in her backyard pool. The family had gates around the pool and other family members were around but the child was not being supervised closely enough. Last week, a two-year old died from drowning in the bathtub. And just so you don’t think it is only toddlers who drown, a 14-year old high school student died during his Glendale school’s PE swim class last week. He was still learning to swim. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintended, injury-related deaths for children ages 1-14 years old. According to information from the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, if a child doesn’t learn to swim by the time he is in 3rd grade, he will never learn to swim. While learning to swim is a vital way to prevent child drowning, it is essential to remember that it doesn’t take the place of parental supervision. It is recommended that parents stay within reach of children at all times while in the water and keep a cell phone handy also. Quick intervention is imperative if anything does happen.
SWIMkids USA is centrally located in Mesa off Guadalupe Road and the 101. They offer swim lessons for babies on up and what’s really great is that they even have lessons for special needs children with instructors who are specifically trained to work with children with special needs. Lessons for babies and toddlers focus on the swim-float-swim sequence which teaches the child to swim, roll onto their back to float so they can rest, and roll back to start swimming again; it is swimming for survival. More experienced swimmers can join swim teams and SWIMkids USA offers gymnastics and dance lessons. They also host parties and have more intensive summer swim programs.
Whether you’re interested in watching history take place with the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson or would like to put your child into potentially life-saving swimming classes, check out SWIMkids USA.
If you enjoyed this article, click on the "subscribe" button above to receive updates on new articles by this Examiner.
Comments