Jamerson YMCA Offering Free Swim Lessons

Lynchburg, VA - The Jamerson YMCA has gotten a grant from Swimming Saves Lives, a part of the USA Masters Group. The grant allows the YMCA to offer free swim lessons to adults. The Y says they hope to teach more than 100 adults by the time lessons end in the fall. They say not being able to swim is a very common problem among adults.The reasons vary from not having access to water, being able to afford swim lessons, or just a general fear of the water.According to a national research study done by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis, if a parent does not know how to swim, there is only a 13% chance that a child in that household will learn how to swim either. "It's a trickle-down effect. So if adults know how to swim the likelihood of them getting their kids in the water and overcoming the fear is going to go down for the generations. So we are hoping that by being able to teach these maybe even just 123 adults that that will increase the number of children that with parents having lost their fear of the water, their kids will also be able to be more confident in the water," said Aquatics Director Michelle Hopkins. The classes meet on Saturday mornings and go in 7-week sessions. The session going on right now is full, but you can sign up for the next session that starts June 28. To sign up, click here.