It's Okay to Be Afraid in Water, Expert Says

SARASOTA, Fla., June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- This weekend heralds our long-awaited summer, and many Americans will find themselves happily at the pool or the ocean. But swimming season is not a welcome occasion for all of us.

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Forty-six percent of American adults—over 100 million people—are afraid in water over their heads in pools. Sixty-four percent of us are afraid in deep, open water. (Gallup Poll, 1998). These statistics unveil the sadness and anxiety so many feel about swimming. Even beyond the sadness that these statistics reveal is the tragedy of drownings that occur each year.

M. Ellen Dash, founder and CEO of Miracle Swimming for Adults in Sarasota, FL says, "People want to know how to swim. Those who learn to swim welcome summertime. But many fail swimming lessons. Unbeknownst to most instructors, the failure is often due to panic during lessons. Many people consider panic a normal step of learning. However, students will only endure this emotional pain to a point, after which they quit. If they return to traditional lessons years later determined to learn, they are often met with the same system that is blind to the harm done by panic.  The cycle continues."

A relatively new development in swimming lessons is a system of teaching people how to overcome their fear in water. "It's okay to be afraid in water," says Dash. "No one is afraid for a silly reason. Yet everyone needs to know how to swim. Find a program that will work for you."

In the African American community, where one cultural message has been, "We don't swim," both children and adults are particularly at risk. A higher percentage of blacks lack the opportunity to learn to swim.  The fear of water has been passed down to a high percentage of children. This fear is also passed down in Hispanic and white families. The fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans is significantly higher than that of whites across all ages. Factors such as access to swimming pools, the desire or lack of desire or hope to learn to swim, and parents' fear may contribute to the racial differences in drowning rates.

Recreation programs are gearing up for summer 2015, hoping for a safe summer. It partly relies on non-swimmers' choices to request a class that meets their needs.

To highlight the importance of learning to swim, Miracle Swimming for Adults will host a Sarasota event of the annual successful attempt on the Guinness World Record™ for the Worlds Largest Swimming Lesson June 18, 2015 at 10 a.m. that takes place around the world. The location is the
Jewish Federation, 580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, FL, 34232.The pool is managed by Sarasota Aquatics Academy. Adults, children, and families are welcome. The number to beat is 36,564.

Contact: Melon (Mary Ellen) Dash 
CEO, Miracle Swimming for Adults, Inc. 
941 921 6420
Email   

SOURCE Miracle Swimming for Adults