Huron Clinton Metroparks in Southeast Michigan is pursuing a program to help more people learn to swim.
Amy McMillan, director at the Metroparks, said the program is especially important in Detroit, a city in which the majority of the population is Black. Federal data show children of color are significantly more likely than white children to die by drowning, and many Detroit families self-report that their children have little to no swimming experience.
McMillan said there's also a generational component. "When parents come to lessons with their kids or grandparents come with their grandchildren, they talk about the fact that they don't know how to swim and that they want to learn how to swim and how vulnerable that makes them feel. And that's why we have begun to add adult swim classes into the mix," she said.
Summer swim sessions begin right after school gets out and go through the end of the summer. The program hopes to offer 1,600 free lessons at nine partnered locations.
Various partnerships during the school year take place in the fall and winter because some schools don't have access to outdoor pools and are not open during the summer.
