Preventing childhood drowning was the focus of last Thursday’s free swim and water safety camp for children ages 3-5. The camp was sponsored by Osceola Sheriff Marcos Lopez in partnership with the Kissimmee YMCA.
“We specifically targeted the pre-school age group for this program because, unfortunately, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for kids one to four years old, and Florida generally leads the nation in annual drownings,” said John Lewis, associate vice president of the Osceola County YMCA. “It’s very important with so much access to water to be able to make swimming lessons accessible for everybody.”
The free two-day camp saw about 50 kids to participate. Each child participant spends at least 30 minutes in the water with an instructor who teaches them basic water safety. Along with the child instruction CPR classes are also held inside the YMCA for parents. While this is the inaugural camp, Sheriff Lopez hopes that it will become a regular event.
“In the state of Florida, on average, you get up to almost 100 drownings per year, all over the state. The majority that we see of the child drownings here in our area of Central Florida are tourists. It shows the importance of teaching children water,” Lopez said. “We have their parents or at least one family member involved to make sure that they understand the importance of water safety. Also our deputies partnering with the YMCA is just a really important part of the things that our Police Athletic League and our Outreach Unit do to make sure that we’re working together with the community to help save lives and prevent any type of tragedy, especially in the water. There’s a lot of water here in Florida, a lot of bodies of water, a lot f people have swimming pools—we just want people to know that we care and we want to help contribute to make sure that everybody has a great summer.”
Swimming lessons are available for anybody in the community, with over 1,000 kids getting lessons over the last year. YMCA membership is not required. People covered with Sunshine Health can get eight free swim lessons. Swimming lessons are available for ages 6 months through adults. Find out more by calling 407-847-7413.
