Registration is now open for the 2019 World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL). Set to take place on June 20 in aquatic facilities of all kinds in more than 20 countries, the event is now in its 10th year.
During that time, the World Waterpark Association and WLSL supporting organisations/host venues have helped raised significant awareness of water safety and drowning prevention. The purpose of the lesson is to provide children and parents exposure to life-saving water safety skills. Put simply, swimming lessons save lives.
Research shows:
- Drowning is a serious threat to children’s lives. According to the World Health Organization, drowning is third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death; this accounting for 7 per cent of fatalities. In the US, drowning remains the leading cause of injury related death for children ages 1 to 4, and the second leading cause for children under 14.
- A lack of basic swimming skills. In 2014, a survey by the American Red Cross found more than half of all Americans (54 per cent) either can’t swim or don’t have all of the basic swimming skills.
- Parents don’t recognise supervision is key. According to a 2016 Safe Kids Worldwide report, even though lack of supervision played a role in the majority of drowning deaths, less than half of parents (49 per cent) indicate they remain within arms’ reach of their child in the water.
Each year, WLSL events provide more than 20,000 man hours of water safety training in a single day.
Since the first World’s Largest Swimming Lesson in 2010, more than 278,000 children and adults in close to 50 countries have participated in WLSL lessons. In the process, the ‘Swimming Lessons Save Lives’ message has been shared with more than a billion people.
Organisers anticipate more than 600 facilities will host a WLSL event in this anniversary year – and your waterpark or facility could be one of them. Register here as an official host location for the event on Thursday, June 20.
