Minneapolis and St. Paul adopt new strategies to keep kids safe in the water

A 5-year-old in a watermelon-themed swimsuit makes it across the wading area at St. Paul's Como Park Regional Pool on her second day of swim lessons, holding onto her instructor in knee-deep water.

"Look how far you swam!" her teacher exclaims.

The lessons are a major victory, said the little girl's dad, Josh Marcus, who signed his two daughters up for the free lessons.

"I can swim, so I'm normally the teacher, but with how afraid my 5-year-old is of the water, I wanted to leave it to the pros," he said as he watched the lesson from the pool deck.

In response to recent high-profile drownings and growing awareness of racial disparities in drowning statistics, Minneapolis and St. Paul have ramped up youth water safety education through free swimming lessons this summer.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children under age 5 in the United States. Children of color are especially at risk: Black youth ages 10 to 14 are 3.6 times more likely to drown than their white peers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show. Younger Black children, ages 5 to 9, are 2.6 times as likely to drown as their white counterparts. And overall, Black Americans are 1.5 times more likely to drown than their white peers, based on data from 1999 to 2019.

Local data echo that racial gap: Hennepin Healthcare says 12 of 24 drownings that HCMC has overseen over the last four years were people of color, seven were white and the racial makeup of five was unknown.

On top of that, a national lifeguard shortage this year heightened disparities in access to safe swimming areas.

While it's too soon to know how this summer will compare to others, the grim disparities are unlikely to change substantially, water safety advocates say.

But three main strategies can help keep children safe in the water: education, life jacket use, and access to lifeguarded places to swim.

"This is not a one-time thing," said David Albornoz, aquatics facilities supervisor for the city of St. Paul. He has long dreamed of offering the free, safety-focused swimming lessons that began last month at the Como Regional Pool.

The free lessons, offered to 300 children for three consecutive years through St. Paul Parks and Recreation and funded with $94,910 from a Met Council equity grant, target "residents at highest risk of drowning," according to the grant proposal.

The lessons emphasize safety over swimming stroke development, Albornoz said.

A few specific safety concepts can make a significant impact in preventing drowning, he said. For instance: Wear a life jacket. Don't go into a body of water you're not familiar with. Don't play around drains in pools.

For parents? Keep a close, steady eye on kids when they're in the water. A child can drown in the time it takes to watch two TikTok videos, said Alison Petri, program manager with Abbey's Hope Foundation, an Edina nonprofit named after Abbey Taylor, a 6-year-old girl who died in 2008 after a pool-drain accident in 2007.

Swim teachers reiterate those crucial safety lessons in each class, Albornoz said, and also correct subtler unsafe behaviors. When, for example, one boy let go of the wall in the deep end, a teacher reminded him to keep a hand on the wall.

Once kids know how to swim, it's easy for them to gain a false sense of security, he said. Good swimmers often think they don't need life jackets, and swim in places they shouldn't.

Overconfidence can also tempt people into unsafe rescue situations . During lessons, he'll ask students: What do you do if your sibling is struggling in the water? Answer: Throw something like a rope to them and call for help, and do NOT go after them.

In addition to the St. Paul lessons, free swimming and swim lessons at North Commons Water Park began this year with new funding earmarked for equitable youth programming from the Minneapolis parks system. Both the swimming lesson program and the North Commons Swim Camp are full, said Sarah Chillo, aquatics manager for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. A citywide swimming lesson scholarship program allows qualified residents to take lessons at other sites for $5.

The YMCA of the North offers some free lessons as well.

Abbey's Hope is giving away 2,022 life jackets this summer. The organization recommends that everyone wear them while in a boat, and that people who aren't strong swimmers wear them in any open-water setting.

"In Minnesota, you legally only need to wear them until age 10," Petri said. "But I don't recall kids magically getting buoyant when they turn 10."

Back at the Como Pool, the teacher of the reluctant 5-year-old checks in near the end of the lesson.

"How did that feel?"

The little girl smiles and flashes a thumbs-up. And her dad grins.