Three Participate in 'World's Largest Swimming Lesson'

This morning at 11 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, the —along with aquatic facilities around the country and in 20 other countries—took part in The World's Largest Swimming Lesson, a simultaneous global effort to get 25,000 non-swimmers in the water and on their way to a safer summer.

While it's the event's third year globally, this is the first time the YMCA has taken part.

"Drowning is the second-leading cause of unattended death for kids under 14," said Main Line YMCA program director Courtney Izett, before the lesson began. "And a lot of what we are hoping to do, along with teaching kids some swimming basics, is inform parents of the dangers of an unattended pool and instruct them on how to keep their kids safe."

Izett added that the of a three-year-old girl at Saint Alban's Swim Club in Newtown Square was a sobering reminder of the risk pools pose to children. It is a a risk, she warned parents, that exists irrespective of whether they actually own one.

"It's important to remember that you may not have a pool, but your neighbor might," she said.

For parents, Izett says the surest way to prevent pool accidents is to be watchful of non-swimmers and to teach them how to swim as early as possible. Research shows that if a child doesn't learn how to swim by third grade, they likely never will. The Main Line YMCA offers lessons for children as young as six months old.

Learning to swim is a process though, cautioned Izett. And an event like Tuesday's can, at best, only get the ball rolling. "The kids won't be the next Michael Phelps after today," she said.

The Event

Unfortunately, people were not exactly beating down the doors to get in. About 15 minutes before the event was set to begin, the four-lap basement pool was still empty. Izett, lifeguard Caroline Wells, and instructor David Freedman milled around the chlorine-slick tiles.

"We've been telling parents about it," said Freedman, a junior at Lower Merion High School.

"The problem is, the schools around here are still in school," opined Izett. "All our kids are still in school."

A few minutes before the 11 a.m. start time, the looming possibility that no one would show up was averted when 3-year-old Ashton Woodard walked in with his mother and grandmother.

"He was talking about 'I'm going swimming! I'm going swimming!' the whole way over here," said his grandmother.

Despite Ashton's big talk, when it came time for his lesson, the boy took to the water like a duck to ...well, like a duck to something that a duck has a bone-deep, nightmarish fear of.

"I want to get out!" the toddler cried, gripping the shelf of the pool's shallow-end while Freedman desperately—and in vain—used bubbles, rubber frogs, and purple boogie boards to distract him from the fact that he was in water, and with a stranger.

"Mommy!" he screamed several times, his cry intensifying as Freedman gamely strapped a multi-colored floatation device around the waist of his only student. After his cries reached a pitch usually detectable only by animals, Freedman, defeated, handed Ashton back to his mother.

It was 11:15.

The two other participants—YMCA membership services worker Denise West and administrative aide Kathleen Ladedz—seemed to do a little better under the tutelage of instructor Eliza Brooks. There were fewer tears, anyhow.

"I've really enjoyed myself," said Labedz, who grew up in a rural Missouri town. "It helped me a lot."

West concurred. "I learned not to be afraid, to kick hard, and to relax when you're floating on your back," she said.

While Labedz and West paddled around the pool with the aid of floating barbells, Ashton eventually warmed to the water, too. Though he didn't technically get back in, he consented to Freedman pulling him up and down the lanes in an inflatable boat until 11:45 came, and the lesson was over.

A breakthrough. Sort of.

"Well, I thought it was a fun idea," said Brooks, now out of the pool and in a reflective mood.

"And next year it will be even bigger," added Freedman.

Globally, The World's Largest Swimming Lesson may have reached their goal of 25,000 pupils, but only three came from the Main Line Y. Still, it was a start—and with swimming lessons, any kind of start is a good one.