MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) – Goldfish Swim School in White Oak offered free swim lessons for children on Thursday as part of its World’s Largest Swimming Lesson initiative.
The school says the lessons are meant to teach kids critical water safety skills that could save their lives. Goldfish Swim School instructors were hard at work, teaching those skills.
“It gets you out of bed every day to come in here and know that you’re not just teaching kids how to swim, but you’re giving them an important life skill that can ultimately save their life,” Goldfish Swim School General Manager Derek Ondrizek said.
The school offered free 30-minute swim lessons to kids as young as four months old, all the way up to 12 years old.
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They say a big reason for offering free lessons is because of the federal government’s recent decision to cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) swim lesson programs.
“It’s more critical than ever to get kids enrolled in swim lessons as opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer,” Ondrizek said.
Ondrizek says it’s especially important for children to develop their water safety skills now that pool and beach season are in full swing. As such, instructors go over a lot of important information during the lesson.
“Climbing up the wall, fin-fin-belly-flipper — so that would be teaching them how to safely exit out the pool and also practice jumping in the pool. Turning onto their back, so that way if they can’t reach the wall, they can always rely on their back float,” manager Yohan Sopwabl said.
And they teach these lifesaving skills in a fun way.
“Kids learn best when they are learning and they are playing. We call that The Science of Swim-Play here, so that’s one thing we really focus on,” another manager, Alexa Carranza, said.
According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages one to four. It says swim lessons, such as these, can reduce that risk by 88%.
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