Every time I see this page, I wonder WTF we (USA) don't provide basic swimming lessons to all kids. Being able to swim competently seems like a basic life skill to me.
"That's why we have lifeguards."
Etc. They probably don't know any better - that's how they learned to "swim" and they didn't die, so here we are.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drownproofing
[1] https://www.isye.gatech.edu/news/surviving-drownproofing-101
> All children should be able to swim 25m by the end of primary school
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/13/did-you-know-swi...
Pretty sure that's how it works in most countries that have public swimming education.
Perhaps I'm biased from growing up in a coastal town where swimming was a very popular competitive sport and lots of people had boats, but teaching kids in middle or high school is WAY too late IMO, this stuff needs to be taught at a much younger age - like 4-5 years of age.
At minimum, I'd love to see survival swimming, treading water, basic pool safety in kindergarten (age 5).
We could also add the above to Head Start - that gets pool safety done earlier for disadvantaged kids (who are less likely to get it from their parents). Most of my peers start pool activities when their kids are infants and continue through swim team in primary school, but that's a very middle-class thing and costs a good bit of money/time.