Yes, Brooklyn DOES Swim!
BROOKLYN, NY. There are times when you start something you know is important, but you really don’t know how it will turn out. Oh, there’s blind faith that things will be ok because it’s SO IMPORTANT to you, but, well, how can you be sure that anyone else agrees?
For me, Brooklyn Swims!—a pop up swim program for local kids at the LIU Brooklyn pool—has (so far) been a life-defining event. Not that it’s super original; in fact, it’s pretty much a no brainer. NYC Parks does not have enough lifeguards to staff its pools and beaches, let alone cover the free learn-to-swim instruction the city has offered New Yorkers since 1938 (launched by Robert Moses, who loved to swim). With 53 outdoor pools and miles of beaches in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island, it’s no surprised Parks is strapped just now.
[Commentary: Why Community Learn-to-Swim is an Essential Part of Summer in NYC]
Which—during what may turn into one of the hottest summers on record—is a huge problem. Eager young New Yorkers, whose access to public pools the previous two summers has been hampered by the pandemic, will flock to cooling aquatics activities lacking life-saving swim safety skills. This is a disaster waiting to happen—we’re all horrified by stories of children drowning because they are unprepared for an ill-advised jump in unsupervised water.
Like many parents, I have my own story about the challenges of swimming. My daughter took to the water like a fish and became proficient at an early age. My son, on the other hand, was forced to put his head under the water during a swim lesson—and it took two years and the gracious assistance of one-on-one lessons to get him back in the water. He grew up to be an accomplished water polo athlete for the Brooklyn Hustle Waterpolo Club.
Brooklyn Swims! is our way to mitigate aquatic risk and resistance while presenting the joys of water. We thought we’d get perhaps 100 kids who wanted to swim; not because there wasn’t need but how would parents hear about a pay what you wish program at an indoor pool in downtown Brooklyn?
Turns out that the news has spread like wildfire! I’m managing a list of 200+ prospective learners between the ages of 4 and 13 looking at lessons three times a week between the hours of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Which is great—so long as we find ways for them to get safely in the water, learn swimming basics and (I hope!) become drown proof.
The results over our first three days have been encouraging. We’ve already gotten 120 kids in the water, and will add six additional days to our original schedule of 12 sessions / four weeks. We’ll ask LIU, which has generously supported this proposal, to provide a fifth week so that even more kids are served.
There have been so many people who have encouraged and supported this idea—which is now exactly one week old—it’s important to mention them. First are the instructors and staff: Otis Alves, Kevaughn Mark, Irakli Sanadze, Max Sidorenko and Gregory Terentyev; lifeguard Aaron Gershkovich; pool manager Owen Randazzo.
LIU’s Rose Dara, Daniel Quinn, Hazel Seivwright and Judy Tang have been essential in making this program possible.
There are various politicians who are behind the scenes pushing for this: Mariana Alexander of CM Lincoln Restler’s office; Jeremy Lockett of CM Crystal Hudson; Karen Narefsky of AM Phara Souffrant Forrest. Sheridan Mukoro of the Magnus Mukoro Sports Foundation has been inspirational
Then there’s the brains behind Inclusive Community Wellness, the non-profit sponsoring the program. Maureen, Boucher, Carl Quigley, Gene Spatz and—last but not least—Perry Williams, who seems to know every single family that has come to the pool.
Maybe this was an idea that everyone valued after all. Who doesn’t want kids to swim safely in the summer—and beyond (for that you’ll have to stay tuned)?