Last month, hundreds of aquatic centers around the world participated in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson to raise awareness for water safety among children. Summer is one of the worst times of year for drowning accidents, so it is the best time to teach kids how to swim.
As a sixth-year participant of World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center hosted over 100 kids aged 4 to 14 to educate them about the importance of water safety. Hosted by BSAC’s aquatic director, Theresa Hickie, there was swimming, a DJ, snow cones and prizes to make the event fun and informative for the kids.
BSAC’s swim instructors and coaches taught the children how to swim. Different water drills, such as kicking and rhythmic breathing, were taught in the 30-minute lesson.
“It is just so rewarding knowing that these kids are going to be able to help themselves if they were to get into any type of situation,” Hickie said. “They are going to know how to float and they are going to know how to turn themselves over and swim back to the side of the pool.”
Many participants were involved in BSAC’s summer camps and were excited to take part in this event. Participants Deyana Marie Flannigan and Alyssa Russell both said swimming was their favorite thing to do at BSAC and the WLSL was their new favorite event.
For info on the World’s Largest Swimming lesson, visit worldslargestswimminglesson.org. For info about BSA, visit mybsac.org or call 689-0908.
