Viewfinder: Clayton Swim Students, Teachers Dive Into Record Books

Despite early downpours and muggy skies, children and adults from around the area gathered at the Shaw Park Aquatic Center for this year’s World’s Largest Swim Lesson.

The center was designated an official host location for this year’s event, which included sites worldwide on two continents. The park also took part in last year’s inaugural event, setting a world record of 3,791 participants across 34 states, five countries and three continents.

The Guinness World Records did recognize the event as the largest of its kind, but it will take until after June 27, the deadline to turn materials in, to announce the official results.

Despite the record-breaking performance, Shaw Park aquatic staff take great pride that the event is a time to educate.

“This event is about showing the importance of swim lessons and water safety,” Jason Quinton, Aquatic Supervisor for Clayton Parks and Recreation, said. “Drowning is the second leading cause of unintended injury related death for children under the age of 14. We want to make sure parents realize just how important these lessons are, and that’s why we decided to hold the event again.”

The event was started by a host of safety agencies, including YMCA, the American Red Cross and USA Swimming. These groups combined to form the World’s Largest Swim Lesson Organization, which coordinates and helps areas sites advertise the event.

“The organization gives us everything we need, and it’s our job to get the word out to the public,” Chris Cholley, the program supervisor for aquatics, said. “We released a press release through the city of Clayton and advertised through our extensive swim programs here at the center. We wanted to get the word out as far as possible.”

Despite the gray skies, around 30 children attended this year’s meet. Many parents and caretakers understood the importance of their children learning to swim, rain or shine.

“Swimming is so important for the rest of their lives,” said Abigail Adams, a nanny of two boys age 5 and 3 who took part in the event. “The boys are in the water all the time, especially during the summer with vacations. This is something they need to know.”

Children were divided into groups depending upon their age and skill set. While infants and toddlers learned the very basic of swimming techniques, like just holding on to the ledge and learning to kick their feet in rhythm, older children learned advanced swim strokes.

The event’s biggest concern was to bring in new faces for the event, and despite the less than pleasant weather, event officials said they got just that.

“A lot of new people just walked in for the event,” Cholley said. “That’s good to know and see. We want the kids to learn a few things and have fun at the same time. There are definitely more first-time faces here, and hopefully they’ll stick around and learn more.”