With summer on its way, the American Red Cross urges families to prioritize water safety education and swim lessons, fostering confidence and lifelong skills that help everyone stay safer in and around the water. Participation in formal water safety and swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning.

"Before families head out to pools, parks, beaches or anywhere with bodies of water, it’s important for all family members to learn and review critical water safety skills,” said Jennifer Graham, CEO, American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region. “As a community, we all play an important role in helping keep those who are in and near the water safe.”

Each year, more than 2.5 million people learn to swim through Red Cross lifesaving aquatics programs. These programs incorporate the latest science-based curriculum and industry best practices, helping to keep individuals and families safer while enjoying water activities. Through this work, over the last century, the Red Cross has helped to reduce accidental drownings by nearly 90% nationwide.

“Most drownings happen when the child isn’t even supposed to be near or in the water so preventing unsupervised access to water, providing constant, active adult supervision and knowing how to swim are critical layers of protection to help prevent drowning,” said Connie Harvey, director of Aquatics Centennial and Survival Programs for the Red Cross.

Additional Water Safety Tips

• Nobody should ever swim alone – adults and teens as well as children. Never leave a young child unattended near water, and do not trust a child’s life to another child.  
• Always designate a “water watcher” who will keep a close eye and constant attention on children and weaker swimmers in, on and around water until the next water watcher takes over. 
• Have young children or inexperienced swimmers wear properly fitted U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets around water, but do not rely on life jackets alone.  
• Reach or throw, don't go! In the event of an emergency, reach or throw an object to the person in trouble and tell them to grab on. Don’t go in! You could be in danger of drowning yourself.

“We encourage families to educate themselves on safer water habits, to learn to swim and know how to handle emergencies,” said Harvey. “Our aquatic training providers offer swim education and classes for both children and adults. We recommend that you also learn first aid and CPR, so you’ll know what to do until help arrives.”

WHALE Tales for Children – Now Available in Spanish

The Red Cross recently revamped its Longfellow’s WHALE Tales Water Safety for Children program last year and has now added the program in Spanish, completely transcreated and localized. The no-cost program is designed to help children from all backgrounds in kindergarten through 5th grade learn vital water safety behaviors without having to be in or near the water.

Educators, swim instructors, parents, caregivers and others can teach critical water safety lessons to children before the swim season kicks off and throughout the summer. WHALE Tales are short, engaging and age-appropriate lessons that cover important water safety topics in different environments such as pools, waterparks, oceans, lakes and rivers. The free downloadable resources include lesson plans, course presentations and engaging materials such as videos and activity sheets and can be accessed at redcross.org/WHALEtales. If you’re a parent or caregiver teaching your own children, visitredcross.org.watersafetyforkids. 

Community Partnerships

Last summer, Philadelphia joined nearly 100 U.S. cities partnering with the American Red Cross Aquatics Centennial Campaign, an initiative focused on reducing drowning rates through programs and classes that promote water competency and safety. 

In Philadelphia, the Red Cross is offering free swim lessons for families, adults and teens during extended pool hours, along with water safety and CPR training for parents and caregivers. The campaign also supports recruiting and training new lifeguards while helping current lifeguards become certified swim instructors. 

The Aquatics Centennial Campaign was launched in 2014 to recognize 100 years of Red Cross leadership in swimming and water safety. To date, the campaign has delivered nearly 159,000 sets of swim lessons and certified 6,560 junior lifeguards, lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors®. We’ve also armed nearly 24,000 parents and caregivers with water safety knowledge and/or CPR skills. Learn more at redcross.org/centennialswim.  

Get Started Today 

Go to redcross.org/watersafety for swim program information and a variety of resources. The Red Cross Swim app can help children and adults learn with kid-friendly video and activities on mobile devices. Do your part. Be “water smart.”

About the American Red Cross:

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.