An Olympic gold medalist explains why teaching kids to swim is just as important as teaching them to walk

Mike Lewis / USA Swimming Foundation

• Drowning is a leading cause of death for children.
• An alarming number of children don't know how to swim or have weak swimming ability.
• USA Swimming Foundation both supports up-and-coming competitive swimmers and promotes swimming instruction for younger people.

Summertime is water time. We head out for the seaside or the lakefront, we hop into rowboats and sailboats and powerboats, and we spend time cooling off at pools.

But as much as we love water, the stuff can be dangerous. Particularly for children.

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