‘Swim lessons save lives’: Southern Nevada event teaches pool safety
A group of 5- and 6-year-olds used all their strength and skills to splash their beloved swim instructor, Cheryl Waites, as she laughed and teased the kids to splash harder.
Waites was one of the teachers at a free water safety event, part of the World’s Largest Swim Lesson, on Thursday afternoon at the Boulder City Municipal Pool. This summer marks the sixth year of Boulder City’s participation. The worldwide event, organized in 2010 through the World Waterpark Association, has one goal: prevent adolescent drowning.
With towels and goggles in tow, 44 kids showed up to learn critical water safety skills.
Waites, an American Red Cross water safety instructor, knows every kid at the Boulder City pool — she’s been teaching them to swim since they were babies. The kids respond well to her because she’s a kid at heart too, she said.
“I do games and activities and songs and music with them,” she said. “Then they learn everything.”
One of her students, 8-year-old Walter Lawrence, came to the swimming lesson to brush up on his swimming skills. His mom, Charlene, has been bringing him and his 6-year-old sister Sarah for lessons since they were 9 months old.
“It’s a nice refresher to get them out here,” Charlene Lawrence said.
As Walter participated in the group lesson, he couldn’t help but show off how long he could hold his breath underwater.
“She only asks us to hold our breath for 4 seconds, but I can hold mine for 10, 9 seconds,” he said.
‘Swim lessons save lives!’
During the lesson, kids were separated by age with eight instructors providing small group instruction. Six lifeguards monitored the pool as the children hopped into the water.
The 30-minute lesson was separated into four parts: water safety, water entry, basic swim skills, and submersion and breathing. At the end, the kids gathered with their instructors at the shallow end of the pool.
“Swim lessons save lives!” they yelled to a camera.
The World’s Largest Swim Lesson isn’t Boulder City’s only water safety initiative for children. The aquatic department will provide free swim lessons for children up to age 4 with a $2,500 grant from the Southern Nevada Chapter of the International Code Council.
Since the worldwide event began, over 413,000 children and adults have learned basic swimming skills, according to the World Waterpark Association.
Fifty-four countries have participated in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson as of last year’s campaign.
According to 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 4. In children ages 5 to 14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death.
The Boulder City Parks and Recreation Aquatic Department has set recommendations to keep children safe in pools, hot tubs, lakes and rivers. Those recommendations include:
— Have a designated adult supervisor free from distractions like phones and earbuds.
— Home pools and hot tubs should have fences or alarms.
— Supervisors should ensure children don’t swim or play near drains and suction outlets and no one should enter water with a loose, broken or missing drain cover.
— Children 13 and under are required by law to wear a life jacket on a moving boat unless they are in an enclosed area.
Contact Megan Howard at mhoward@reviewjournal.com. Follow her on X at @meganmhxward.