Olympic swimmers teach hundreds of valley kids to swim
Hundreds of children from across the valley dove into the “Swim to Win” event Saturday at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center.
The free event brought out Olympic champions to teach swim lessons to children of all ages.
Three-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines knows just how important it is to teach kids how to swim.
“Drowning is something that’s a huge problem… in our country. So any time I see kids near the water and I can teach them how to swim it’s good,” Gaines said.
The third annual Swim to Win event works to lower the risk of drowning by providing free swim lessons to hundreds of kids.
For Michelle Lopez’s children, this was their first swim lesson.
“I’m always constantly watching over them because I’m afraid they’ll drown, you know?” Lopez said.
But with the help of these Olympians, children are now learning the basics and having fun along the way.
“First they teach you the basic rules of kicking and that’s really important because if you do drown you obviously need to be kicking, fourth grader Trinity Avina said.
Founder Stephen Little calls drowning an epidemic.
“The epidemic is that kids are drowning faster than they ever have before and preventable drowning deaths are the No. 2 killer of children under 5 and the No. 1 killer of children under 4 in the U.S. And we have a cure, it’s a really simple easy cure,” Little said.
Little said the cure is swim lessons.
One of the important take aways from Saturday’s event is that swim lessons are readily available here in the desert and the other is that nothing can replace adult supervision.
“The No. 1 thing, no matter what, is never swim by yourself. Most drownings happen when an adult is present. So for me it’s not so much about the love of the water, which I want them to have. I want them to have that passion, but it’s the fact that they should never even go near water by themselves,” Gaines said.
Other Olympians teaching at Saturday’s event include gold and silver medalist Janet Evans, seven-time medalist Aaron Peirsol, four-time gold medalist Jason Lezak and seven-time medalist Amanda Beard.
To learn more about pool safety click here.
Local Swim Lessons
