February 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 44

World's Largest Swimming Lesson

SOCIAL EQUITY

Children at the Carl E. Sanders Family YMCA at
Buckhead, located in Atlanta, Georgia, participate
in a recent World's Largest Swimming Lesson.

Ready, Set, Swim!
The World's Largest Swimming Lesson brings communities
together and helps reduce drowning risks
By Samantha Bartram

A

ccording to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning ranks fifth
among the leading causes of unintentional injury or death in the United States. About one in five individuals who die from drowning are
children age 14 or younger. The fatal drowning rate of African-American children ages 5-14 is almost three times that of white children in the same age
range. These are grim statistics, but they help to underscore the universal importance of learning basic swimming skills. Organizers of the World's Largest
Swimming Lesson hope their annual event helps lower those numbers while
bringing communities together for fun and a potentially life-saving education.
The simple enjoyment of splashing
around with friends and family at the
local pool is a particularly alluring aspect of WLSL, but of utmost importance is the effort to reduce rates of
drowning deaths and injuries. " We
were looking for a cornerstone opportunity we could give to the larger
aquatics community to rally around,

42

Parks & Recreation

build media coverage at the start of
swimming season and contribute to
the anti-drowning movement, " says
Aleatha Ezra, director of park member development at the World Waterpark Association, which founded and each year organizes WLSL.
" Creating this event gives facilities a
one-day, big-impact opportunity to

| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 4 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

spread the word about water safety
and help prevent drownings. It's an
out-of-the-box piece people can use
to get media coverage around this
important safety initiative. "
WLSL launched in 2010, and
during the past four years, Ezra believes organizers have hit on a winning combination to get more aquatics facilities involved - namely, fun,
community and safety. The driving
principle behind the event has always
been education and drowning prevention, but adding the allure of taking part in a Guinness Book of World
Records challenge has generated even
more buzz. WWA members met with
Guinness representatives to develop
guidelines for achieving the distinc-



February 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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