The Allentown Department of Parks & Recreation’s learn to swim program is afloat.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Mascot MeLVin and members of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Charities visited the department Tuesday to present a $1,000.00 grant award to Friends of the Allentown Parks to fund a “Learn to Swim” camp for Allentown youth.

This grant will be used in cooperation with the City of Allentown Parks & Recreation Department to facilitate a “Learn to Swim” camp during the 2019 summer season at Cedar Beach Pool. The program consist of eight (8) lessons of 30 minutes each on various weekdays and weekends presented by instructors who are American Red Cross Certified Lifeguards. The program’s primary audience is the youth of Allentown with the objective of teaching at risk populations the lifelong health and safety skills of swimming.

Swimming is a lifelong skill set that provides a variety of health and safety benefits. The strongest defense against drowning is learning how to swim.

According to various statistics from the Center for Disease Control and USA Swimming Foundation:
- Participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88%
- If a parent does not know how to swim there is only a 13% chance a child in the household will learn how to swim
- 60% of Hispanic and 70% of African American Children cannot swim
- 10 people drown each day in the United States with 1 in 5 drowning victims are children under the age of 14
- Swimming is a low impact full body exercise that increases flexibility, and cardiovascular fitness

For more information, please call the Allentown Department of Parks and Recreation at 610-437-7750 or email karen.el-chaar@allentownpa.gov.

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