USA Swimming is promoting swim lessons

Here is a creepy Center for Disease Control (CDC) water related fact sheet:

• In 2003, there were 3,306 unintentional fatal drownings in the United States, averaging nine people per day. This figure does not include drownings in boating-related incidents (CDC 2005).

• For every child 14 years and younger who dies from drowning, five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries. More than half of these children require hospitalization (CDC 2005). Nonfatal drownings can cause brain damage that result in long-term disabilities ranging from memory problems and learning disabilities to the permanent loss of basic functioning (i.e., permanent vegetative state). [Link]
  

The best way to prevent drownings is through constant supervision and swim training. If you have kids, get them lessons. If you are in the Los Angeles area, my swim club offers lessons for kids and adults. Here is the phone number: (310) 390-5700, ask for Aqua Pro swim lessons for kids or swim lessons for adults.

Important side note: a lot of drownings occur when kids try to save a friend or family member who is drowning. It is very easy to become a victim yourself when attempting a rescue for when a rescuer approaches a victim without a flotation device, the victim grabs onto the rescuer like they are a stairway to just one more breath of air. Consequently the rescuer or both are pulled underwater and subdued. This happened twice last month in icy waters back east.