COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Five USA Swimming National Team members are taking part in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson in three different cities across the U.S. The event will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. in Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Santa Clara, California.
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson was created to help aquatic facilities and water safety organizations work together to communicate the fundamental importance of teaching children to swim. More than forty-five different aquatics and safety organizations and publications support Team WLSL in their mission and encourage participation in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson event to help prevent childhood drowning. The World’s Largest Swim Lesson is an affiliate of the USA Swimming Foundation.
The event takes place annually in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest swim lesson. The current record was set at last year’s event on June 20, 2014, with an impressive 36,564 participants in 480 locations in 22 countries. The organization looks to beat that this year with swim lessons taking place in over 900 locations around the world.
Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J.), Connor Jaeger (Fair Haven, N.J.), Melanie Margalis (Clearwater, Fla.), Emma Reaney (Lawrence, Kan.) and Tom Shields (Huntington Beach, Calif.) will all be participating in the event. Fink and Margalis will be participating in Atlanta and Reaney will be assisting in Charlotte. Jaeger and Shields will be partaking in the event prior to the Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara.
“I’m so excited to finally be a permanent member of the Charlotte swim community, and I have loved this city since the minute I got here, and I can’t wait to help out in any way I can,” said Reaney, American record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke. “Swim lessons are close to my heart because they were a huge part of my childhood and they’re incredibly important in saving lives all over the world.”
The events are open to the media.
The National Team members’ appearance at the World’s Largest Swim Lesson is part of USA Swimming’s Athlete Partnership Program. The program is a platform for National Team swimmers to encourage kids and adults to take up the sport as a healthy and positive activity. These appearances directly promote the sport and the healthy lifestyle it represents. To find more information about how to get started in the sport, visit SwimToday.org.
About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
Swimming news courtesy of USA Swimming.