Saving Lives One Stroke at a Time

The last thing any parents wants to be fighting for is the life of their own child.

Yet, hundreds of families around the country endure a tragic, fatal emergency and deep heartbreak each year when a child unexpectedly drowns.  In the United States alone, 784 children fatally drowned in 2014 and more than half were under the age of 5 (safekids.org).

Something can be done to fight these alarming statistics and through Magnifying Good, I had the opportunity to witness the Winter Park's YMCA winning battle against childhood drownings.  The Winter Park YMCA empowered one Master's swim coach - Marilyn Nelson - and Winter Park High School IB (International Baccalaureate) students to spend their summer mornings teaching free swim lessons to children in Eatonville.

Eatonville, one of the first self-governing all-black municipalities in the United States of America, stands out from the crowd of Central Florida's modern cities growing wildly in fame and fortune.  This city dot on the Florida state map attracts tourists for its deep, historical roots.  Located six miles north of Orlando, Eatonville has delicately preserved its rich, southern heritage in its buildings, way of life, and abolitionist spirit.  Against a backsplash of black communities fighting for civil rights, the city's 1950's charm captures the curiosity and wonderment of anyone - including myself - driving down Eatonville's main corridor, Kennedy Blvd.  Each time I drive into Eatonville, I feel as though I have been thrown back in time in the most beautiful way.  As someone who knows, understands, and cares about history, I understood why preserving such a city - and protecting its children - should be important to Central Florida, and quite frankly, the entire country.

"About how many children do you teach throughout the summer?" I asked.

"About 300," she humbly responds.

I'm no mathematician, but I can multiply that times the ten years Marilyn has been coordinating the program.  Marilyn and her self-recruited team of high school volunteers have served, changed - and potentially saved - 3,000 lives one stroke at a time.

Talk about commitment and fortitude...While we're all asking one another where each other's next summer road trip is, Marilyn is slathering on sunscreen for another life-changing summer morning in the City of Eatonville Community pool.  "It's important that I'm here.  The program and the kids mean a lot to me."

Over my cup of coffee and her bottle of Mountain Dew (much needed and deserved ammunition to conquer the day ahead), I sense what her dedication has accomplished in a small community where hundreds of children are deathly afraid of the water you and I don't think twice about jumping into.

But then again, you and I can afford swim lessons, have the car to get there, and were taught by our parents, the importance of knowing how to swim.  It is easy to forget the necessary resources it takes to get a child registered and keep that child involved in a consistent class.  With twenty-five percent of Eatonville's residents living under the poverty line, there can be numerous roadblocks for caring parents to access the preventative classes and courses so many of us don't think twice about signing up for. 

The Winter Park YMCA, however, answered the call to bridge that gap in resources and accessibility.  If the kids can't make it to swim lessons, the YMCA  - dedicated to saving lives - would take swim lessons to them.  Marilyn knew the Winter Park YMCA's abundant resources could make for a long-running and deeply needed program in which children five to twelve learn how to float, tread water, and eventually, swim strokes across the pool.  The children arrive in vans and buses, between 9am and noon every summer morning from local daycares, churches, the Eatonville Boys & Girls Club, and various city programs.  Some have swimsuits, some do not.  Some are excited to be there, others are more hesitant to believe in the program's end goal of getting from one wall to the other in the water.

"I got you," Daniel, a seventeen-year-old Winter Park High School student whispers in the ear of a trembling child named David, who has been taught water is something to fear, not enjoy.  Neither of David's parents knows how to swim so the safe decision was to keep him far away from the water and teach him to be deathly afraid.

"You're doing great.  I promise not to let go.  Nothing will happen to you," Daniel reassured David.

David's tight grip loosens and under the sweltering sun, a smile begins to replace the fear.  Just from watching for ten minutes, I could feel the trust Daniel had to work hard to earn from scared David - a tough challenge even for a dedicated IB student.

Knowing Daniel could be saving David's life, Daniel doesn't take the trust he has earned, lightly.  "There is a lot of talking and demonstrating to the kids and even more teamwork between the volunteers...because I believe swimming is one of the most important lessons anyone can learn in life."

I asked Marilyn about the spirit of the children she serves each summer in that old, somewhat neglected pool: "The best moments are when you break through a wall with a child.  The YMCA is known for teaching kids to swim and this program brings us outside our own walls and into the community to those who otherwise could not get to those lessons."

"Do you want to see this connection from a YMCA swim program to another community take place in other cities in America?"

"Yes!  I would love to see other YMCA's across the country develop this program," she laughs, "I have everything all mapped out!"

I asked Marilyn the same question I ask everyone I interview for a story, "If you could yell something about this program from a mountain top for all the world to hear, what would you say?"

From deep inside a giving heart, Marilyn responds, "As a society, we must invest time and love into our kids to make them feel secure and keep them safe.  We need to build servant leaders, self-esteem, and citizens who realize what differences they have the capability to make."

Well said Marilyn, well said.

And thank YOU for setting an example of what that servant leadership looks like - from the shallow end of a pool in the historical city of Eatonville, Florida.

Peace,

Annette