MEDIA ADVISORY
SAN DIEGO, California, May 10, 2020: May is drowning prevention month and the Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego is warning the public of possible deadly consequences at city beaches due to the community pools being closed. With school being out and temperatures rising, San Diego kids have nowhere safe to swim.
PDFSanDiego has a vision to teach thousands of third graders in San Diego County how to swim. The only way these kids can learn to swim or continue to advance their skill level, is at a local community pool. These pools provide the SAFEST swimming opportunity.
According to Buc Buchanan, PDFSanDiego President, “With our current COVID-19 situation, elected officials have opted to open the beach to local beach residents to allow them to enjoy the water. As you know, lifeguards welcome all beach patrons with one safety caveat. In order to go in the ocean, you need to learn to swim first. The message associated with these actions provides an inequitable issue for kids who don’t know how to swim. Beaches and bays would be the only place for kids to swim this summer if local community pools are closed. These areas are much more dangerous than pools.”
In 2019, Rady Children’s saw 95 total drowning and non-fatal victims. This was a 24% decrease in the number of drowning events from 2018. What will these numbers look like for 2020 if a safe swimming option is not available for kids in our community? Swimming in the deep end requires that kids know how to swim. The ocean and bay are the theoretical equivalent of the deep end. Kids need to be allowed to learn to swim in the shallow end of local pools.
Questions we need to ask our community leaders:
- If you want to go to the beach or bay but don’t know how to swim, where can kids proactively learn to swim?
- When someone has a fatal or non-fatal drowning at the bay or beach, why wasn’t a safer option available?
The obvious solution is for San Diego to open all community pools to ensure the safety of kids who are new swimmers and do not have the skills to swim in the ocean. Please continue to advocate and protect the kids in our community. Please open our neighborhood pools now. *CDC and USA Swimming Foundation guidance links below.
CDC guidance on operating and managing public pools
USA Swimming Foundation reopening plan guidelines
About us: The mission of the Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego is to save lives by funding, coordinating and promoting swim lessons for underserved youth and providing aquatic safety education for all. Drowning is preventable and it is our vision to teach every child in San Diego how to swim.
Drowning Statistics:
- In 2019, 95 fatal and non-fatal drownings went through Rady Children’s Hospital from 0-14 year old (6 of those were fatal).
- 79% of children in households with incomes less that $50,000 have little-to-no swimming ability.
- Research shows 64% of African-American, 45% of Hispanic/Latino, and 40% of Caucasian children have little to no swimming ability.
- Formal swimming lessons reduces the likelihood of childhood drowning by 88%.
- Drowning kills more children 1-4 years of age than anything else except birth defects.
- Among children 1-14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death (After motor vehicle crashes).
Foundation impacts for 2019:
Over $125,000 funded impacting kids throughout San Diego County
21 local grants provided
5,121 swim lessons / bridge to the beach participants
7,385 water safety lectures to military
Provided ALL San Diego Junior Lifeguard scholarships / 60 kids
