Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death among children ages 1 to 4 in the United States.
SYLVANIA, Ohio — About 15 percent of U.S. adults, or about 40 million people, say they don't know how to swim, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These hospitalizations are coupled with an alarming increase in the number of infants drowning.
Schools like Sylvania Goldfish Swim School on Brint Road are stepping up efforts to improve water safety education.
“We're just trying to make people aware of it and give them swimming lessons and teach them how to be safer around the water, how to hold on to walls, how to hold on to the edge of the pool,” Brandon Kueneman said. I hope that by teaching, I can prevent such things from happening as much as possible.” Pool operations manager at Goldfish Swimming School Sylvania. “So it's not so scary when you start swimming.”
Kahneman says he's equipping people with the right skills to survive underwater.
The school offers year-round indoor swimming instruction for children ages 4 months to 12 years.
“We do at least one safety skill in every lesson at different levels, no matter the age of the child. Especially for the lower levels, ages 3 to 5, what we do a lot of the time is Here's the thing: We'll get them into the junior class and at the end of class we'll start moving them to the wall here, where they'll start holding on to the wall,'' Kahneman said.
Kahneman says the colors people wear underwater are important, especially if they're drowning.
“The bright color of your swimsuit is very important. It makes you very visible to the lifeguards, lifeguards, other instructors in the water and other people in the water. They can see the bottom of the pool floor. “Rather than looking at bright colors, dark colors or blues tend to blend in and make it harder for instructors and lifeguards to see,” Kahneman said.
Drowning deaths among children ages 1 to 4 were highest among racial and ethnic minorities, according to survey data.
Additionally, more than half of U.S. adults say they have never taken swimming lessons.
Lack of access to classes is another big problem, as is the lack of swimming holes.
Still, more than 80% of young people who can't swim are likely to visit a pool or beach this summer.
“Make sure to designate a water safety guardian. That's very important. The person responsible for supervising the children, that's their number one job at the pool, and that we don't wear brightly colored swimsuits. It's about making sure they're wearing it,” said Gen. Emily Perkins. Manager of Goldfish Swimming School Sylvania.
If you are interested, Goldfish Swim School offers year-round indoor swimming instruction for children ages 4 months to 12 years.
For more information, please visit this website.
