
Water-safety legislation is popping up in states across the country. But rather than physical layers of protection, it focuses on water-safety education, especially for the disadvantaged.
“We’ve always focused on devices like gates and alarms and things that protect you from falling in the pool,” said Florida Senator Travis Hutson, author of a recently passed water-safety bill. “But we never thought about it from a swimming standpoint. ... Those who need some help from the state [affording lessons] should be offered that help.”
The new Florida law, which had bipartisan support, allocates $500,000 toward vouchers to provide swim lessons for children under four years of age whose family’s income falls below twice the poverty level as defined by the state’s Medicaid program.
Florida’s Department of Health has until July 1 to roll out the program. As the agency irons out logistics for implementation, the Florida Swimming Pool Association will bid to help administer the program through its nonprofit Florida Swims Foundation. The group is equipped to vet learn-to-swim providers, as it already provides funding for childhood swim lessons, said Dallas Thiesen, the FSPA’s Chief Government Relations Officer.
The International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Every Child a Swimmer campaign has actively promoted such legislation to state governments for the past few years. “Most middle-class parents, if they know how to swim, will automatically give their kids swim lessons,” said Bill Kent, chair of ISHOF’s board and founder of Every Child a Swimmer. “But only 45% of Americans know how to swim, so there’s a massive segment that is [uneducated] about water.”
Some states in the Northeast are seeing a similar interest, said Dominick Mondi, executive director for the Northeast Spa and Pool Association. His organization has received calls from interested legislators in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In the Garden State, one legislator plans to introduce a bill that would would mandate schools to provide water-safety information to the parents of children of a specified age. Another would allow and aquatics staff to test public-pool visitors whom they fear don’t have the ability to swim safely in the deep end of a pool.
Current water-safety legislation generally takes two directions. First are the learn-to-swim bills such as Florida’s. Others have been introduced in New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Michigan.
Other states are opting instead for informational laws. These would require that children or their parents be informed of drowning hazards and the importance of water-safety education. Bills in Pennsylvania and Michigan, for instance, would require their Departments of Education to develop water-safety or swimming curricula for students. A recently introduced Mississippi bill would mandate that schools educate students or their parents on the importance of water-safety education courses and swim lessons.
New York recently passed a law that requires hospitals to make available a water-safety video to the parents of newborn children.
Kent especially sees hope in bills such as New York’s: “It hits the parents at the right time.”
Regardless of the type of bill, these industry associations are working with legislators in crafting the language and figuring out the implementation. “We’re happy to be in a position where we’ve been staying closely involved ... and that they’re reaching out to us so these bills are written correctly,” Mondi said.