Jacksonville, FL — The First Coast YMCA says a recent spike in child drownings has led to an increased interest in free swimming programs. Every local YMCA with a pool schedules free swimming lessons in the summer.
“We offer the free swim lessons to people with financial need, they just have to prove they have free and reduced lunch”, said Cindy Partee, Regional Aquatics Director with First Coast YMCA. You are required to register your child or children for the free lessons.
Each YMCA branch with a pool has a different schedule and time so it’s recommended that you contact your neighborhood branch. For example, the Arlington location has scheduled free lessons from July 31 through August 10th.
“The spots do fill up pretty quick. We’ve actually in some summers had a hard time filling our swim lessons but this year it has been such a focus with all the tragedy in the news that people have been calling and the classes have been filling up much faster than normal”, said Partee.
REPLAY: Jacksonville's Morning News indepth special on drownings
Six children from the Jacksonville are have drowned over the past two months. Since 2014, 24 children have died in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau, and Baker Counties.
The YMCA offers additional swimming lessons year-round and, if necessary, financial assistance is available.
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