Along with three swim instructors and a cadre of volunteers, I recently completed an 8-week swim class for 20 women and one preteen. The women came from countries in Africa, Southeast and Central Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America, bringing different languages, cultures, histories, and relationships to the water. Some women, after only a...
I was ten years old when my uncle loaded my brothers and me onto an inner tube at a beach near our childhood home in Jamaica. My uncle pushed us into the water, and we squealed. “One more time,” I said, not wanting the fun to end. Then, in an instant, I slipped beneath the...
Each May, National Water Safety Month brings attention to the importance of swim education: drowning prevention, and safe experiences around water. Part of my advocacy for swimming as a life skills and water safety comes from my own near drowning experience years ago. I understand personally how frightening water can feel and find it profoundly...
