U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Cullen Jones, helps students learn water safety skills at the Valley of The Sun YMCA/Leslie's World's Largest Swimming Lesson event in Phoenix, AZ. Jones shared his personal water safety/learn to swim story to help raise awareness about the importance of learning to swim and using layers of protection including adult supervision and preventing access to water with fencing and pool covers.
Worlds Largest Swimming Lesson U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, Cullen Jones, helps students learn water safety skills at the Valley of The Sun YMCA/Leslie's World's Largest Swimming Lesson event in Phoenix, AZ. Jones shared his personal water safety/learn to swim story to help raise awareness about the importance of learning to swim and using layers of protection including adult supervision and preventing access to water with fencing and pool covers.

For the 14th year in a row, thousands of children around the globe took part in the same swimming lesson at the same time. Forty thousand participants in more than 600 aquatics venues in 18 countries took the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson to kick off summer. The event occurs every year to promote water-safety awareness, share critical water-safety skills, and spread the the importance of teaching children to swim.

Some elite athletes helped with the day. U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Cullen Jones spoke at the lesson taking place at the Valley Of The Sun YMCA/Leslie’s location in Phoenix. U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist Maritza McClendon, the first African American female to swim for Team USA and win an Olympic medal, led the event at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“Whether families are spending time at a waterpark, the community pool, the beach or the lake, we want them to be prepared by enrolling kids in swimming lessons and always providing active adult supervision,” said Rick Root, President of the World Waterpark Association, which organizes the event.