OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Swim instructors at the Goldfish Swim School are working to change the statistics, because thousands of children drown every year. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it's the leading cause of injury-related death among children ages 1-4.
"The sooner they get in water, the sooner they're acclimated to it and learning safety skills, [and] they're better off around water," Goldfish Swim School General Manager April Boldt said.
Parent Jodi Hammans started her girls early.
"Kids just love water so they want to jump right in," Hammans said.
3 of Hammans 4 daughters can already swim.
Her two-year-old daughter, Quinn, is learning to float.
"They've learned to float [and] you know that's another thing is not to panic," Hammans said. Teaching our kids to learn how to do the skills that they need at a very early age really does help."
"[When] we take our children to physicians, we talk about car seats and helmets but we don't talk about swimming," Boldt said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends kids start swim lessons by the age of one.
"Usually it's unexpected when accidents do happen around water," Boldt said. "It's just one of those things that the sooner they get those safety skills the better they are around water."
It's a life-saving skill everyone needs to know, and while Hamman's says it's costly ... "it is the best investment we've ever done for our kids to get them swimming lessons and get them acclimated to the water."
You can find more information about swim safety at https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/AAP-Updates-Recommendations-to-Prevent-Drowning-in-Children.aspx
