KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An American Red Cross study found that on average, two people under 14 years old die each day from drowning. It found a total of ten people die each day from unintentional drowning, and said it is responsible for more deaths among children between one year old and four years old than any other cause, except birth defects.
The study also found that 79% of children in households that make less than $50,000 per year have few or no swimming skills. It also found 64% of African-American children, 45% of Hispanic children and 40% of white children have few-to-no swimming skills.
A swimming instructor in Knoxville is trying to make sure that children of all ages and backgrounds have a chance to learn how to swim, regardless of their background. Randy Love teaches everyone from the same pool that he said he grew up in.
"The fear you encounter when you rescue someone is significant. There's an impact on people long after the moment," he said.
He works from Inskip Pool, Knoxville's busiest public pool. It brings out around 350 people a day from ten surrounding counties. Families who may not have access to other pools have the chance to sign up for affordable swimming lessons.
"There's a lot of joy in it, and the opportunity to learn a skill that may not have been open to them somewhere else. It's open here," said Love. "We're going to get the kids in for lessons. We find that if we ask moms, dads, family units — usually one or two parents will jump into lessons and want to take themselves."
Knoxville offers swimming lessons at $60 for two-week sessions.