Free swimming courses are opening to kids in Jefferson County this week.
Louisville Parks and Recreation’s summer swim club for children ages seven through 12 is returning to three area pools: Algonquin, Fairdale and Sun Valley. The four-week courses will teach kids freestyle swimming, backstroke and breaststroke. They’ll also learn basic water rescue skills.
Now in its second year, the swim club is sponsored by the Louisville Sports Commission. Julie Howell, the Commission’s vice president of revenue, said the program can help set kids up for future success.
“Hopefully these kids will learn to swim, it’ll be fun, they’ll continue to do it, and it will be a pathway to leading an active lifestyle as they continue to mature,” Howell said.
Swimming lessons also save lives. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages one to four, and the second leading cause for kids up to 14 years old. Black children ages five to nine are also three times as likely to drown compared to white kids of the same age.
The four-week courses will be divided into three age groups: 7- and 8-year olds, 9- and 10-year-olds and 11- and 12-year-olds. There are only 24 spots available per site, eight in each age group.
Anyone interested in signing their children up for the swim club should call Keith Smith or Mike Jotautas at 502-574-1498 to register.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
