Swimming in the Big Apple: Aqua-Tots Promotes Water Safety on Fox & Friends During National Learn to Swim Day

On Saturday, May 18, Aqua-Tots Swim School students jumped feet first into a heated shipping container pool on the sidewalk of 6th Avenue, promoting water safety on live national television for May’s National Water Safety Month and National Learn to Swim Day. Working together with Trek Pools, the swim school brought a 95-degree pool to Fox Square to show families around the country just how much little ones can learn when they take weekly swim lessons.

Fox & Friends Weekend Anchors Rachel Campos-Duffy, Rick Reichmuth, Pete Hegseth and Will Cain joined Aqua-Tots Spokesperson and Franchise Owner Lindsay Thayer poolside to learn more about the importance of keeping children safe by enrolling them in swim lessons at a young age.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages one to four and the second leading cause for children ages five to 14.” However, “participation in formal swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children ages 1-4 years old,” states the National Institutes of Health.

With assistance from swim instructors and parents, children are able to start swim lessons as young as four months old! Aqua-Tots Parent and Tot classes are designed to help children learn how to roll over and float on their backs, kick independently and turn and reach for the edge of the pool for air. Parents bond with their babies as they learn how to safely handle and submerge their children underwater for five seconds or less. This helps children learn breath control and adjust to the water.

“At that age range of four to six months old, it’s a period of rapid progression, where they’re able to follow Mom, Dad, people, objects with their eyes and their heads. So it’s a great time to start teaching them how to turn their eyes, find safety and find their air,” Thayer said.

“At that young age, you can start to gain a love for the water, a respect the water, understand boundaries and learn how important it is to listen to Mom and Dad and know when it’s okay to get in. At Aqua-Tots, we teach survival skills and lifelong swimming skills.”

Aqua-Tots Swim Schools across the world teach children up to twelve years old, and even offer additional programs such as adult classes, adaptive lessons, Swim Club, Swim Team, and Fast Track to ensure every person has the opportunity to become a safe and confident swimmer for life. Driven by their mission to save lives, Aqua-Tots teaches five million swim lessons yearly. Since 1991, Aqua-Tots has taught over 42 million swim lessons to 2.1 million students in 26 states and 14 countries using their world-renowned curriculum.

Click below to view the whole news segment, “Aqua-Tots promoting water safety by turning kids into ‘safe and confident’ lifelong swimmers.”