Tampa takes part in World’s Largest Swim Lesson

Share
Swimmers in Copeland Pool // Chris Young, WMNF News 6/20/24

Listen:

In the past decade, there have been over 200 unintentional drowning deaths in Hillsborough County. Four Tampa pools took part in the 15th annual World’s Largest Swim lesson in hopes of reducing that number.

About 60 kids came to the Copeland Pool in Tampa to learn how to swim. They took part in a global drowning prevention event called the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson. The World Water Park Association launched it in 2010.

Tampa’s Administrator of Neighborhood and Community Affairs Ocea Wynn says it’s important for kids to learn to swim, especially in Florida.

“We have lakes, we have streams, we have creeks, we have 1.5 million swimming pools, and we’re surrounded by three bodies of water, so it’s imperative that children and adults know how to keep themselves safe in the water.”

New to the event was support from the non-profit Smile Like Aubrey, founded by Matt and Kristen Strojnowski. The couple lost their 16-month old daughter to drowning in 2020.

“This right here makes it all worthwhile, because people are taking it seriously and getting their kids the lessons that are needed to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics says the risk of drowning can be reduced by 88% if kids take formal swim lessons between the ages of 1 and 4.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

The Big Gay Radio Show
Player position: