THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED and DONATED TO THE SWIMSPA -A-THON 2020
Swim Spa -A- Thon 2020
Whether you Swam, Walked on the Aqua treadmill or Cycled on the Aqua Bike.
30 minutes of your time helped change a life!
Thanks to everyone's efforts in 2021 we will be sponsoring
32 adults and children.
Click the picture below to view full interview with Larry Macon Jr. WKYC, Ch. 3
Click the picture below to view full interview on We the people with Alexa, WKYC, Ch. 3
What is the Swim Like Me Initiative ?
With COVID-19 and social distancing the number of people purchasing above ground pools, in ground pools and swim spas has grown expeditiously, however, so have the number of drownings. In Florida and Texas alone, the number of drownings has increased by 110% which is why learning to swim is an essential skill set.
1 out of 10 children: The number of children that reportedly drown daily.
64%: The percentage of African-Americans that cannot swim in the USA.
45%: The percentage of Hispanics that cannot swim in the USA.
40%: The percentage of Caucasians that cannot swim in the USA.
85%: The percentage of those who go to the various bodies of water every summer, despite the fact that they cannot swim.
I can never forget the 2010 Louisiana Red River drownings, six (6) black teens that died in that river on August 3rd. When the first teen got into trouble, they all tried to help. They jumped in one after the other thinking they could save the other one. Instead not only did these six children lose their lives, but the adults nearby could not help any of them because of their inability to swim.
Stories like this continue to make headline news even today.
In May of 2020 alone, a mom, grandfather and daughter lost their lives because no one could swim in their new backyard pool.
In June of 2020, a young military soldier lost his life saving the lives of two women who were drowning at Tinkers creek.
Many drownings can be prevented with education, water safety knowledge and learning to swim. African American children die from drowning accidents three times more than white children. Swim programs are often expensive or unavailable in urban areas. Therefore, lack of accessibility is partly the reason why water safety has not been stressed in many communities.
At Rhythm and Stroke LLC, we strive to do our part in decreasing the statistics and educating our community on learning to swim and water safety. Annually, we serve 300- 400 adults and children working on learning to swim and/or mastering stroke refinement, breathing and water safety.
Facilities may be closed but we can’t stop this work, the community is counting on us, we have shared work outs with students to keep them motivated and encouraged. We have shared hotel and lake/ocean water safety videos as well.
In 2018, Lake Erie had the most deaths due to drowning of all the great lakes and remains 2nd after Lake Michigan in the greatest number of drownings annually.
How can you help? In partnership with Ohio pools and Spas and The Place, we are raising money to sponsoring 200 children and adults to learn to swim in Northeast Ohio.
Our free “Do it afraid” program is our FREE program for adults and children designed to encourage fearful individuals to learn to swim. This program will allow for applicable real-life skills that not only promote water safety but these children and adults can continue their skills and receive jobs as lifeguards, careers as swim coaches/instructors and even compete and receive college funding as well as go on to compete in the Olympic games.
Therefore, we urge everyone to support the #SwimLikeMe Movement. Form a team and Raise money for a Great cause
Help someone else learn to swim like you!
-Coach André