Foss Swim School Celebrates Water Safety Month

Throughout the month of May, FOSS will share resources to help families stay safe around the water and help prevent drowning.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, drowning is the single leading cause of death for children ages one to four and the second leading cause of injury-related death for children up to age 14. FOSS wants to help educate families on everything they can do to help make water safety a top priority, especially as we approach summer and spend more time near pools, lakes, and other bodies of water.

FOSS, which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year, has taught over 20 million students how to swim and has a team of water safety experts available to share information about how to help prevent accidental drownings and help kids enjoy and respect the water from an early age. FOSS offers lessons for infants beginning at six months old and believes in teaching swimming as a foundation for a lifetime of fun, safety, and physical, social, and mental benefits.

“Water safety is at the heart of everything we do at FOSS,” shared Craig O’Halloran, Chief Executive Officer at FOSS. “Our co-founder, Jon Foss, was taught to respect the water and embrace swimming by his mother, who lost a sibling to drowning; and passion for helping more people learn how they can be as safe as possible around the water runs deep in everyone on our team.”

One important and consistent message of Water Safety Month is that doing what you can to improve water safety should be near the top of every parent’s to-do list, starting with never leaving kids unattended around water, and enrolling them in formal swim lessons.

11: The number of fatal drownings the U.S. experiences per day.
88%: The estimated drowning risk reduction for kids aged 1-4 years when they participated in formal swim lessons (See the study here.)
23%: The percentage of child drownings that happen during a family gathering near a pool.

Representatives from FOSS are available for media interviews on the topic of water safety and can share actionable tips to help people be safer around the water this summer and beyond.

For more information about Foss Swim School and Water Safety, please visit fossswimschool.com or follow along on Facebook (@fossswimschool), Instagram (@fossswimschool), and Twitter (@fossswimschool).

1: https://poolfence.com/drowning-stats-for-december-2021/

ABOUT FOSS SWIM SCHOOL:
Jon and Susan Foss opened their first swim school in 1993. They created an age-appropriate curriculum, helping even the youngest swimmers confidently learn water adjustment, safety, strokes, and technique. With 30 years of expertise, FOSS has redefined the swim lesson experience by providing a fun, original, technically sound, and safer style of teaching. FOSS currently has 24 schools in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

HISTORY OF WATER SAFETY MONTH:
The first National Water Safety Month was held in May 2007. It was a merging of two smaller efforts, the World Waterpark Association’s National Water Safety Week (which was held in June from 2003-2006) and the National Recreation and Park Association’s National Aquatics Week, held in July 2004-2006. When they combined efforts, the National Water Safety Month was born.

By joining forces and expanding to a month of activities, National Water Safety Month grew in reach and impact. The national association of the pool and spa industry and the American Red Cross joined in the following years, adding to its heft. Today, the group produces and organizes “educational programs, public service announcements, governmental proclamations, dealer and business promotions, and easy to-access water safety materials.”

Advocates like FOSS and others both share official NWSM messages and contribute our own efforts to spreading the word.

ADDITIONAL TIPS AND TOOLS:
Here is a collection that we have created over the years: