Albany Area YMCA’s Swim Safe Program

ALBANY, Ga. – Earlier this summer, the Albany Area YMCA saw an increased turnout in the Swim for Life program. Now… they’re expanding on it with a new program geared towards teaching both kids and adults how to swim.

YMCA president, Dan Gillan says this summer’s Swim for Life campaign was such a success, they wanted to expand…

And… with the new Swim Safe program, they’re looking to reach more than just kids who can’t swim.

“Many parents or guardians don’t know how to swim. And, so, through conversation, we came up with this program of family splash time. And, the family splash time is going to be geared toward family units,” said Dan Gillan, President, Albany Area YMCA.

The YMCA is planning to serve up to 40 people with the new program.

For those concerned about safety, at least one parent must be in the pool at all times.

The program is being offered up to adults as many with the YMCA’s leadership found out that it’s more than just a few kids who don’t know how to swim.

“A lot of the kids that don’t know how to swim, some may be either in my after-school or just kids that are members of the Y. They have that opportunity as well as their family to come out and learn how to swim, which is great because everybody needs to know water safety,” said Tonya Davis, Youth Development Dir., Albany Area YMCA.

For aquatics director, Jabin Wallace, he’s excited to see this new program following the success of Swim for Life…

Particularly for the same reason why that program was needed in the first place.

“We’ve had many drowning deaths, and I want to get that number down to zero. And, the best way to do that is to serve as many people as possible with as many lessons as we can. So, in order to get that number down, I need people to come and register,” said Jabin Wallace, Aquatics Dir., Albany Area YMCA.

And… the YMCA is excited to be able to help kids and adults learn how to swim even with the summer coming to an end.

“Beyond the summer season, it’s beyond cool. It is absolutely awesome to be able to continue to deliver this necessary life skill to members of our community,” said Gillan.

“I can’t urge this enough: if you cannot swim or you have no experience in water, please stop by and get these lessons from us. I can’t urge it enough, we don’t want anybody to die of drowning,” said Wallace.

While Swim Safe registration will be going on this weekend, the YMCA leadership hopes that families will take the initiative and sign up so they can safely enjoy taking a dip.

Registration will be going on at the Albany Area YMCA Saturday the 17th, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Brian Roche reporting.

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