We Need A New Relationship With Water
Shawn Slevin (she/her)
Founder/ Executive Director @ Swim Strong Foundation | Water Safety Advocacy and Education
We have recently passed the 7th Anniversary of the devastation of Super Storm Sandy. 7 years later there is still much work to be done. NewYork City agencies are taking steps to protect our land and buildings. However, our most vulnerable assets, our people are not being thought of in these plans.
?Multiple layers of protection are needed to help us be safe in and around the water. Swim Strong Foundation delivers two of those layers by teaching water safety and strong swimming skills. It is an unfortunate reality that not everyone will learn how to swim. However, we ALL can learn about the dangers of water from within our own homes to everywhere we meet it out of doors. Our DRY side educational program is called “Know Before You Go”. It speaks to the nature of water in each of it’s different environments (pools, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc). This knowledge gives us the ability to make decisions that keep us safe.
?Water safety education is NOT just a conversation for the Summer. Just this past month alone we had three children drown, two in the Rockaways and one in the Hudson. Fall is hurricane season, making our open waters much rougher. Over the past several years we have had spikes of warm weather days into November. Our water temperatures are still reasonably warm. People are drawn to our beaches and rivers etc, often with tragic consequence. In the Winter, we have many people falling through the ice. In Spring, we face flooding.
?The importance of water safety should be as innate to us as the putting on of a seatbelt when we get into an automobile. Swim Strong Foundation asks the government agencies at both the City and State level to mandate the teaching of “Know Before You Go” within our schools and other public venues. All New Yorkers need to be safe in and around the water.