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Oregon Kroc Center offers a variety of aquatics classes.
By Erica Andrews
In high demand every summer, swimming programs at the Kroc Center in Salem, Ore., reach capacity. Coinciding with the closure of the Salem city pool, the Kroc Center officially opened its doors in October 2009.
“We have a variety of classes that we offer and if we had twice the size of pool, all of the classes would still be full,” said Julie Louden, aquatics coordinator for the Salem Kroc Center. “We have a very high need for lessons here.”
Swimming lessons are crucial to all ages, as drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It’s especially important for children 1-4 years old since they have the highest rate of drowning.
Teaching families about water safeguards can drastically reduce a child’s risk of drowning. Nellie Nunez, a health educator for the injury prevention program at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, teaches about the importance of water safety. She said it’s surprising how many people do not know how to swim.
“It’s one of the top three mechanisms of injury for children that we see here,” Nunez said. “Swimming-related injuries are preventable and there’s no need to ever have to experience something tragic.”
The CDC report also showed that between 2005-2009, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for African-Americans was significantly higher than that of Caucasians across all ages; for African-American children ages 5-14, fatality is almost three times that of Caucasian children in the same age range.
Nunez said they work to address this disparity in their swimming education program, which is targeted at communities that are underserved in the Los Angeles area.
At the Kroc Center in Salem, participants in the program are predominantly of Hispanic descent. Louden said the center is looking into specialty classes that will be specifically catered to Spanish speakers.
Kroc Centers nationwide currently provide an array of swimming lessons and activities. They currently offer lessons for preschool (3-5 years old), juniors (6-14 years old) and adults (15 years old and above). The center also has CPR training courses and aerobics classes like Spin & Swim, which combines land and water exercise.
“Besides just learning to swim, swimming offers kids such a well-rounded experience because it helps in their developmental years,” Louden said. “You can see their confidence grow when you’re teaching them…their faces just light up because they realize they can do it. It’s exciting!”
One participant said the program was fantastic and she couldn’t believe how much her son learned in such a short amount of time. “He use to be afraid of water and now he is confident,” she said. “I think he will be teaching me some things!”
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