World's Largest Swimming Lesson™ Team Reaches Millions with Vital Message to Prevent Childhood Drowning - #WLSL
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 18th, 2015, an unlikely global team made up primarily of tens of thousands of children, worked together to send an important message to 24 countries on six continents in 24 hours. Drowning is a major cause of death for kids younger than 14 in every region of the world and it can be prevented through education and training.
Thursday's event was Team WLSL's sixth attempt to set a new Guinness World Record™ for The World's Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL) to build awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim. Early counts indicate incredible support across the globe, including: 1,800 participants in The Philippines; 2,200 participants in Brazil; 451 participants in the United Kingdom; more than 400 in Australia, and 260 in Portugal; plus tens of thousands in 43 U.S. states from the East Coast to Hawaii and dozens of countries still to report.
"Drowning is an epidemic around the world," said Janet Evans, Olympic Gold Medalist and a spokesperson for the event. "And, Team WLSL is committed to making a difference by getting the word out in local communities across the globe."
According to the World Health Organization's Global Report on Drowning, published in November 2014, "Drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat claiming the lives of 372,000 people a year worldwide. This death toll is almost two thirds that of malnutrition and well over half that of malaria – but unlike these public health challenges, there are no broad prevention efforts that target drowning."
"Despite research showing participation in formal swimming lessons has a significant impact on drowning risk, many children do not receive any kind of water safety training," said Evans. "Our goal is to spread the word that every child must learn this foundational life-saving skill."
While it can take weeks to verify the official count for Guinness, 904 locations were registered to host more than 40K swimmers in 24 countries for the 2015 WLSL event.
About The World's Largest Swimming Lesson™
The World's Largest Swimming Lesson™ was created by the World Waterpark Association in 2010 as a platform to communicate the fundamental importance of teaching children to swim. More than forty-five different aquatics & safety organizations support Team WLSL™ in their mission to help prevent childhood drowning.
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SOURCE World's Largest Swimming Lesson
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