The USA Swimming Foundation has named Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as a member of its Affiliate Coalition. This alliance has been forged to help increase nationwide efforts to prevent drowning.
“The USA Swimming Foundation is pleased to welcome the Boy Scouts of America to our Affiliate Coalition to help promote the Make a Splash initiative,” said USA Swimming Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hesse. “Our joint efforts to provide learn to swim opportunities and water safety resources to children and families within the scouting community will positively impact the nation and help to save lives.”
The USA Swimming Foundation’s Affiliate Coalition is composed of businesses and organizations that share the goal of promoting the importance of learn-to-swim and water safety to children across America.
As one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, the Boy Scouts of America has promoted water safety education and training as part of its service to youth for more than a century. As an affiliate, the BSA will help to spread the USA Swimming Foundation’s messages on the importance of learn-to-swim and water safety. Local Scouting units and councils will be encouraged to contact existing USA Swimming Foundation Make a Splash Local Partner programs to provide swimming lessons as unit activities and, where practical, to consider becoming Make a Splash Local Partners.
“Instilling the life skill of swimming in youth has been important to the Boy Scouts of America since its inception. In fact, the Swimming merit badge was one of the original merit badges introduced in 1911, and today many Scouts choose to earn this badge on their path toward becoming an Eagle Scout,” said Boy Scouts of America Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock. “Joining the USA Swimming Foundation Affiliate Coalition helps underscore the importance the BSA places on swimming and water safety.”
Sobering Drowning Statistics
Approximately 10 people drown every day in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and more than one in five fatal drowning victims are children younger than 14. Drowning is also a silent killer—most young children who drown in pools were last seen in the home, had been out of sight less than five minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time, according to one child drowning study.
Furthermore, 60 to 70 percent of African American and Hispanic/Latino children cannot swim, and only 13 percent of kids who come from a nonswimming household will ever learn to swim, according to a national research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis. African American children drown at a rate nearly three times higher than their Caucasian peers, the CDC reports.
About the USA Swimming Foundation
The USA Swimming Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming. Established in 2004, the foundation works to strengthen the sport by saving lives and building champions—in the pool and in life. Whether we’re equipping our children with the life-saving skill of learn-to-swim through our Make a Splash initiative or providing financial support to our heroes on the U.S. National Team, the USA Swimming Foundation aims to provide the wonderful experience of swimming to kids at all levels across the country. To learn more, visit www.usaswimmingfoundation.org.
Make a Splash is the national child-focused water safety initiative of the USA Swimming Foundation, which aims to provide the opportunity for every child in America to learn to swim. Make a Splash partners with learn-to-swim providers and water safety advocates across the country to provide swimming lessons and educate children and their families on the importance of learning how to swim. The USA Swimming Foundation has invested millions of dollars to provide grants to qualified local partner learn-to-swim programs, to spread national awareness, and to bring together strategic partners to end drowning. To date, more than 2 million children have received the lifesaving gift of swimming lessons through our Make a Splash local partner network, comprised of more than 600 qualified lesson providers across the nation. To learn more, visit www.usaswimmingfoundation.org.
About the Boys Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.” The Scouting organization is composed of nearly 2.5 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org.
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This release is courtesy of USA Swimming.