New York City beaches opened last week and with them comes the annual reminder of disparities in water safety.
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The NYC Parks & Recreation Department’s Learn to Swim program—often credited for democratizing water safety for young Black and brown New Yorkers—returns for the first time since 2019. A spokesperson estimated there will be about 1,000 spots among six outdoor pools. A Learn to Swim summer camp will have room for around 400 youngsters. An online lottery to participate can be entered into on the NYC Parks website.
“We also understand the grave importance of teaching the next generation to swim, for health and safety and to build a pipeline for the next generation of lifeguards. Our focus has been to devise a sustainable plan for the continuation of summertime swim lessons and access for camps that least impinges on public access to pools.”
“Our certification starts with people coming in taking a pretest to make sure that they are meeting the minimum qualifications to participate in the course,” he said. “You can wear glasses, contact lenses, as long as you’re using them while you are working…[we teach] them the skills that they need to keep people safe [and] make quick, correct decisions on what they see in the water so they can either prevent something from happening or react properly.
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