The Basics
- Emma’s Project partners with certified swim schools and instructors to bring life-saving swim lessons to children and adults who might not otherwise have access to them.
- Formal swim lessons reduce drowning risk by 88% for children ages 1–4 — making this one of the highest-impact interventions in drowning prevention.
- Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children — but it is almost entirely preventable with the right education, skills, and awareness.
- Our program focuses not just on swimming skills, but on water safety habits: understanding water environments, respecting open water, and knowing when to ask for help.
- WEBSITE: Support Emma’s Project — your donation funds swim scholarships
- WEBSITE: USA Swimming Foundation: Make a Splash — finding learn-to-swim providers
Action Items
- Enroll in a swim program today — for yourself and your children. Don’t wait for summer. Most programs run year-round.
- Donate to Emma’s Project to help fund swim lesson scholarships for families who cannot afford lessons.
- Sponsor a child or family through Emma’s Project’s Learn to Swim initiative.
- Share this resource with parents, teachers, and community leaders in your network — every child deserves to be safe around water.
- Contact us to volunteer as an instructor, event helper, or outreach coordinator. Get in touch here.
- TOOL: Find a Swim Lesson Provider Near You
Dive Deeper
- Swimming proficiency is not just about knowing how to swim a lap — it includes being able to enter water over your head, resurface, turn to find an exit, swim to it, and exit the water. These survival skills are the focus of quality swim programs.
- A quality learn-to-swim program should be taught by certified instructors with a low student-to-teacher ratio, appropriate progressions for age and ability, and a focus on safety as well as skill.
- Adults need swimming lessons too. Many parents who cannot swim avoid the water with their children rather than enrolling themselves in lessons. Adult swim programs are widely available and worth the investment.
- VIDEO: Josh the Baby Otter — a fun, engaging water safety story for young children (blakecollingsworth’s YouTube channel)
- BROCHURE: Choosing a Formal Swim Instructor (Mario Vittone for SwimWays)