Dayton Residents – On Thursday, June 22nd, 2017, tens of thousands of kids and adults at aquatic facilities around the world will unite for the either year in a row to make noise that Swimming Lessons Save Lives.™ A global event, The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL), will take place over the course of 24 hours at an estimated 600 locations in more than 20 countries with the goal of generating 1 billion media impressions by 2019.

Since its inception, more than 195,000 children and adults have participated in WLSL lessons generating more than half a billion media impressions about the vital importance of learning to swim.  The 2016 WLSL event included 40,298 participants from 24 countries.  

Tragically, in the U.S. drowning remains the leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children ages 1-4, and the second leading cause of accidental death for children under 14.  Research shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children ages 1 to 4, yet many kids do not receive formal swimming or water safety training.

Greater Dayton, Lohrey and Northwest Recreation Centers will be serving as an official Host Location Facility for the WLSL 2017 event.  Parents are invited to learn more about this phenomenal event by visiting WLSL.org. Recreation and Youth Services (RYS) offers on-going swimming lessons all year-long.  During the summer, RYS has a program that reimburses swim class fees.  Stop by any Recreation center for details