Bowie State Expects Full House For World's Largest Swim Lesson

BOWIE, MD — Summer's heat draws Marylanders out to pools and the Bay, but it can pose a danger to people who can't swim.

To help prevent drownings, Bowie State University will join hundreds of pools and aquatic centers across the globe to host the 12th annual World’s Largest Swimming Lesson on June 17.

The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, created by the World Waterpark Association in 2010, is a free global event meant to bring awareness to the importance of teaching children to swim in an effort to prevent childhood drowning.

Mark Wascavage, aquatic coordinator at Bowie State University, said the purpose of the event is far more than teaching people to swim. The focus is on preventing children from drowning.

“The main mission of the world's largest swim lesson is that childhood drowning is such a problem and something that can be prevented.” Wascavage said, “The facts about water safety and drowning are pretty astounding when you start hearing about them and start looking them up.”

Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death of children ages 1-14 in the United States, organizers said. Internationally, the World Health Organization estimates drowning is one of the top five causes of death for children 14 and younger in 48 countries.

Wascavage is excited for Bowie State to serve as a location facility host for the first time in World’s Largest Swimming Lesson history. The event will be held in the university’s recently renovated aquatics center at the Leonidas S. James Physical Education Complex.

Swimming lessons are being offered at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. Each lesson is 45 minutes led by an instructor and an aide. There will be two groups of eight people taught per hour.

Despite it being the first year Bowie State is hosting the event, the aquatic center is expecting nearly 100 participants for Thursday’s swimming lessons. The event registration welcomed swimmers of all ages, which attracted 47 percent of adults and 53 percent of children to sign up.

Wascavage said it's likely adults who do not know how to swim raise children who do not know how to swim, so he was pleased with the heightened interest from adults in receiving swimming lessons.

“Our theme and our goal here is to break that cycle, to get more adults in the water and more children in the water so that the cycle is broken and we have more and more swimmers, more safe people in the pool,” Wascavage said.

Registration has closed for this year’s event at Bowie State, but follow the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson’s website to be notified of upcoming events.