Nearly Half of Parents Say Their Child Does Not Know How to Swim

PHOENIX, May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Many Americans do not know how to swim, placing themselves at risk as they enjoy swimming pools, lakes, rivers, and oceans this summer.

• May marks the 20^th Annual National Water Safety Month to call attention to water safety and the importance of learning to swim.
• Leslie’s, the leading direct-to-consumer pool and spa brand in the U.S., teams up with Cullen Jones, four-time Olympic swimming medalist and the first African American swimmer to hold a world swimming record, to raise awareness of the importance of swimming lessons; maintaining healthy and safe pool water; and securing pool areas.
• National retailer launches in-store program, May 5 – October 31, to raise funds for Boys and Girls Clubs of America and YMCA to support swim lessons and water safety education programs.

According to a recent Leslie’s-commissioned survey conducted by The Harris Poll, only 63% of U.S. adults say they are very comfortable being around water, and as much as 36% of those surveyed say they do not know how to swim.

The numbers are even more alarming for children. Nearly half the parents of children under 18 years of age say their child does not know how to swim, and 61% say their child has not taken swimming lessons. Almost 30% of parents say they are concerned about their child drowning.

Those concerns are well-founded. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), every year in the U.S. there are an estimated 4,000 fatal drownings and 8,000 nonfatal drownings. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. among children ages one to four years with the majority of the drownings occurring in swimming pools versus natural bodies of water. The CDC also reports that drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury death in children and adolescents ages 5 to 19 years old, behind motor vehicle crashes. Among children 5 to 14 years of age, 30% of the drowning deaths occur in swimming pools, while more than half of the drownings among people 15 years or older are in natural waters such as lakes, rivers, and oceans.

“Children are irresistibly drawn to water, whether it’s a backyard pool, a pond, or a river. It’s better to teach them how to be safe in the water than to instruct them to avoid it and hope they listen,” said Cullen Jones, four-time Olympic swimming medalist, who is now a swimming lessons advocate and Leslie’s water safety collaboration partner. “Learning to be safe and at ease in the water also opens up a whole new world of recreational and athletic possibilities, such as boating, fishing and competitive swimming, among others.”     

Jones nearly drowned at age five. His mother reacted — not by keeping him out of the water, but by enrolling him in swimming lessons, where he thrived. While swimming lessons are important, pool owners should take additional safety precautions to prevent drownings.

Three Tenets of Water Safety
A priority at Leslie’s is to spread awareness of three primary tenets of pool safety, including maintaining healthy and safe water, ensuring a secure pool area, and encouraging swimming lessons and water safety education.

Leslie’s is dedicated to helping its customers stay safe during swim season and all year long. To maintain clean and healthy water, regular testing is crucial to uphold proper water balance.  Leslie’s makes it easy with its free AccuBlue in-store water test and treatment plan. The AccuBlue technology is a product of Leslie’s 60 years of water testing experience and the accumulated data from more than 50 million tests. AccuBlue covers 10 parameters and generates a water health score and customized treatment plan to help pool owners get their water back in balance. The company offers additional products, tools, and information to stay safe in and around the pool, from the latest in pool security fencing, gates, safety covers, and alarms to learn-to-swim products.

Encouraging swimming lessons and education, Leslie’s is proud to support the water safety efforts of the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. From May 5 through October 31, 2023, Leslie’s will be accepting customer donations in all their more than 1,000 stores across the nation and online to support water safety programs. To benefit our communities, 100% of all donations will be split equally between the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, both of whom share Leslie’s passion for water safety. Leslie’s and its customers have contributed more than $500,000 to these two nonprofit organizations. For the first time, Leslie’s is sponsoring the Phoenix location of the World’s Largest Swim Lesson, to be held at the South Valley YMCA on June 22, 2023.

About Leslie’s
Founded in 1963, Leslie’s is the largest and most trusted direct-to-consumer brand in the U.S. pool and spa care industry. The Phoenix-based Company serves the aftermarket needs of residential and professional consumers with an extensive and largely exclusive assortment of essential pool and spa care products. The Company operates an integrated ecosystem of more than 1,000 physical locations and a robust digital platform, enabling consumers to engage with Leslie’s whenever, wherever, and however they prefer to shop. Its dedicated team of associates, pool and spa care experts, and experienced service technicians are passionate about empowering Leslie’s consumers with the knowledge, products, and solutions necessary to confidently maintain and enjoy their pools and spas. 

For more information about Leslie’s, visit lesliespool.com or follow and engage with us: @lesliespoolcare on Instagram, Leslie’s on Facebook, and @lesliespoolcare on Twitter.

About Cullen Jones
Cullen Jones is a four-time Olympic medalist and the first African American swimmer to hold a world record. He nearly drowned at age five in a water park in Pennsylvania and after that incident his mother enrolled him in swim lessons, and it soon became clear that Jones had natural talent as a swimmer. He dedicates a significant portion of his time to his role as a water safety advocate. He is a partner of Leslie’s, the most trusted consumer brand in the U.S. pool and spa care industry, as the voice of water safety, especially during May, Water Safety Month, and across the entire swim season.

About the Survey
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Leslie’s from April 25-27, 2023, among 2,050 adults ages 18 and older, including 687 parents of children under age 18. Results were weighted for age within gender, region, race/ethnicity, household income, education, marital status, and size of household where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. 

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments.