Making Waves: Swim Training Program

Swimming is traditionally a skill handed down in families through the generations. So when parents have little to no swim competence, their children typically do not learn to swim.

In my first year with Adventure Crew, I noted how many of our Crew teens could not swim on our adventures. I then learned the startling disparities among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) youth and their White peers in terms of swimming and drowning. In fact, Black children are at a nearly 8% higher risk of pool drowning than White children (CDC, March 2022).

There is also a strong correlation of drowning to poverty: a tragic 79% of youth from homes with income below $50,000 lack swimming skills (USA Swimming, 2022). All too often, city pools in the neighborhoods with the highest drowning risk remain closed during the summer because they cannot find lifeguards to hire. And while newer splash-pads are refreshing, they’re hardly a replacement for developing water safety skills. We seek to change these circumstances for Greater Cincinnati.

During spring break of 2021, Adventure Crew piloted a week-long swim program to teach basic water safety skills to interested Crew and provide opportunity for advanced swimmers to become certified lifeguards.

In year two, our Swim Training Program instructors have already identified three strong candidates who will likely be hired as new lifeguards to help keep city pools open this summer. Furthermore, we’ve had eight total teens swim for the very first time.

The City of Cincinnati was so impressed with our pilot program that we received a two-year Human Services Funding grant. The Swim Training Program will be an annual program where our Crew can continually improve their skills year after year, and the city will have an ongoing supply of lifeguards at the pools. Win – win.

Adventure Crew is definitely making waves!