Wednesday, Jun. 09, 2010

Whole lotta paddlin' goin' on

Raleigh kids join bid for global swim lesson record

They came. They swam. They tried to set a world record.

More than 40 kids, ages 3 to 14, convened at the Optimist Pool last week in Midtown Raleigh. They joined about 10,000 of other swimmers across the globe in a bid to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous swimming lesson ever conducted.

Guinness provided a list of requirements beforehand, and is still processing the attempt, which would establish a new category in the record book.

Matthew Murdock of Raleigh did not know about the world record attempt, and the chatty 8-year-old went suddenly silent when he was told about it. He thought he was there to take a free swimming lesson, even though he already knew how to swim.

"I can go into water 12 feet deep without being scared," he said. One of his most recent thrills was parasailing at Myrtle Beach, a sport in which passengers sit in a harness attached to a parachute as a boat tows the contraption above the ocean.

"I would have been scared if I didn't know how to swim," Matthew said.

The World's Largest Swim Lesson was presented by a coalition of the nation's leading water safety and training organizations. City of Raleigh Aquatics offered free participation to young local swimmers and served as an official host of the WLSL event.

It took place in venues all over the world starting at exactly 2 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, which was 10 a.m. in Raleigh. Participants followed a standard lesson plan to ensure that kids around the world learned the same lessons during the same 45-minute period.

"May was National Water Safety Month, and at this time of year, there is a lot of interest in water safety," said Terri Stroupe, City of Raleigh aquatics director.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates nearly 300 children younger than 5 drown in swimming pools and spas annually.

Having basic swim skills means a person should be able to jump in the water vertically, assume a horizontal position and propel himself through the water for at least 15 yards, then tread water for one minute and swim back to the side of the pool, according to Stroupe.

"Without those basic skills, a person could not get himself out of a scary situation, and with it, he has a better chance of keeping himself alive in the water until help comes," she said. "Swimming is a life skill everyone needs."

Kids taking part in the event didn't think about scary situations. They were there to have fun. Excitement built as instructors counted the minutes until the starting horn sounded.

Tiny girls and boys sat along the perimeter of the pool splashing water with their feet.

Girls wore swimsuits in various shades of pink, and boys were decked out in stylish surfer jams. Most kids sported eye goggles.

Karen Cortes, 7, likes to swim fast. "But I want to learn to go faster," she said.

Karen took her first lesson at Pullen Aquatics Center in Raleigh and immediately took to the sport. She enjoys doing the breast stroke and hopes to join a swim team someday.

"It is important that she is safe in the water, and it is really good for her to know how to swim," said her mother, Isabel Cortes. "It was amazing how quickly she learned."

Michael De Coux, 48, of Wake Forest, a lifeguard and swim instructor for the City of Raleigh, described a young boy in his session who would not put his head underwater without holding his nose and closing his eyes. But by the time the lesson was over, he had let go of his nose and was viewing a new underwater world with his eyes wide open.

"It was amazing that he overcame his basic fears and is now ready to learn to swim," De Coux said. "It's nice to see that."

De Coux and nine other swim instructors volunteered their time for the event.

De Coux didn't care. "I would always volunteer to teach a kid to swim," he said. "If nothing else, this event will get 20 or 30 families to put their kids into swim lessons, and that's a good thing."

Jessica Whitted, 9, who has been taking swimming lessons for two years, traveled with her mother from Southeast Raleigh to Optimist Pool just for this special event. She knows what she likes best about swimming.

"Jumping in," she said.

And after the horn sounded for the World's Largest Swimming Lesson to begin, Jessica did just that.