The world’s largest swimming lesson 2017 is a resounding success
Thousands of children from more than 600 locations in 27 different countries, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Bahrain to Brazil, and Panama to Poland came together to help spread an important safety message in their communities, Swimming Lessons Save Lives ™.
The 8th Annual World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL) took place at waterparks, community pools and swim schools in 47 states in the US as the summer season officially started. The purpose of the event is to provide children and parents exposure to life-saving water safety skills, building awareness about the vital importance of learning to swim and parental vigilance to help precent drowning.
In 2017, drowning remains the leading cause of accidental deaths for children aged 1-4, and is the second leading cause of accidental death of children under the age of 14 in the US. In 2014, the American Red Cross found that more than half of Americans either can’t swim or do not have foundational swimming skills.
The WLSL is working to change that. Since its inception in 2010, almost 200,000 children and adults have participated in WLSL lessons, and organisers have shared the importance of swim lessons more than half a billion times.
