LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Now that the heat of summer has settled in for the season, everyone will be flooding to any place they can cool off.
Pools, ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans.
Regardless of where folks plan to make a splash, safety should remain top of mind.
That's the goal every day for leaders at Goldfish Swim School.
"I believe research states that 50% of adults have never taken a formal swimming lesson. Adults are in need of those important swim safety skills as well as children," Goldfish Swim School general manager Kelsie Sego said.
Goldfish came to Lexington in January, the latest expansion of a swim instruction facility spread across the country.
They focus on young kids, from four months old up to middle school age (12-13), learning the basics on being safe in the water.
"Some really important safety tips are to switch to coast-approved life jackets rather than a puddle jumper or an arm floaty and always wear brightly colored swimsuits," Sego said.
"So if you have a blue swimsuit or a green swimsuit that tends to blend into the water and you're a lot harder to recognize, we recommend more brightly colored or neon colored swimsuits."
The emphasis on safety was tenfold Thursday as Goldfish joined swim schools nationwide to recognize the World's Largest Swimming Lesson.
It's an initiative that's dedicated years to bringing more awareness to water safety and swimming safety, particularly for our youth.
CDC data has shown for years that drowning is the #1 cause of death in kids 1-4 years old, and that data is seeing a spike in drowning cases for the first time in decades.
Sego says even learning some basic swim skills can be potentially life saving.
"Research from the American Academy for Pediatrics shows that formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88%, so we think it's really important that kids learn those safety skills," Sego said.
"I never took formal swimming lessons, and most people I know haven't; I think it's a realtively new thing for me to be familiar with, so I think it's a really great opportunity. I would have loved to be able to do something like this."
More than one hundred kids took part in Thursday's swim lesson at Goldfish Swim School.
Since its inception 15 years ago, the World's Largest Swimming Lesson initiative has impacted more than 380 thousand kids and adults.
To learn more about the initiative, click here.
To learn more about Goldfish Swim School, click here.
