Before jumping into the pool, Swim Coach Shawn Slevin told Amsterdam News the importance of “situational knowledge of water.” In a swimming pool, that means looking at its shallowness, lanes, and color. But in a maritime city like New York, understanding water and its movement has deeper implications.
“We lose toddlers across the United States to drowning every year, and most of them are dying in their homes, not because their parents are bad parents, but because those parents don’t have a context for water risk in their home,” Said Shawn Slevin, founder of the Swim Strong Foundation, adding, “It only takes two inches of water, and two-seconds for a toddler to drown.”
The CDC reports that drowning is now the leading cause of death in infants 1 through 4 years of age. According to the same study, for children 5 to 14 years old, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death. The CDC also reports that Black children ages 10 to 14 drown at rates 7.6 times higher than white children.
Slevin warned, “You’re speaking to a disrupter in this space.” She aims to reverse dangerous drowning trends with an innovative and nuanced approach.
“The traditional way is by being in the water and offering the skills, right? And thus far, we’ve taught more than 11,400 people how to swim. We’ve given more than $1.8 million in free swim lessons to families who had that need,” she said about her organization.
She added, “We’re even taking that further and talking about situational knowledge of water, which has nothing to do with swimming, but everything to do with understanding and managing the risk of water from an environmental and a climate point of view.”
Swim Strong is a non-profit organization based in New York City and has served its residents for almost 19 years. Its main mission is to teach New Yorkers how to swim as a health-beneficial skill and as a life-saving tool. Slevin, along with “some colleagues,” created a program called ‘Know Before You Go,’ which has reached 96,000 people through school programs across the country.
Slevin explained why water safety is a crucial part of her class, “[Hurricane IDA] was responsible for 93 drowning deaths between Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,” emphasizing the drowning had occurred inland. “13 of those people were my neighbors in Woodside, Queens.” She lamented their deaths and said it could have been prevented.
In a house, situational knowledge of water teaches you the safety measures in case of a flood. “With a storm of that nature coming in, you never go down. You go up,” she added.
Slevin also discussed how storms are getting stronger due to climate change. She specifically mentioned that what were once considered “once in a lifetime” or “once in a 1,000 years” storms are now occurring more frequently and with increased intensity.
According to Climate Central, warming oceans are indeed fueling stronger tropical cyclones; they are also increasing hurricane activity.
Slevin also recalled colder winters when she was younger and thick ice packs that allowed for activities like skating. However, today’s winters are warming, leading to thinner ice packs. This change means that ice is less stable and people are increasingly at risk of falling through ice. The thinning of ice is a direct result of climate change, making winter activities more dangerous and unpredictable.
Her message is clear: situational knowledge of water is crucial as weather patterns become more extreme due to the Climate Crisis.
Coach Slevin teaches in three out of the five boroughs of New York City. She describes NYC as “an aquatic desert,” and believes the city does not meet the standards of a maritime city.
“When you look across the political landscape of New York City, we have 51 council districts. Only 18 of them have a public swimming pool,” she noted. “The Parks Department has 58 facilities, but only 12 of those are swimming pools, and of the 12 swimming pools, only six are potentially available for year-round use.”
She concluded, “You do the math, almost 9 million citizens into six swimming pools, public swimming pools, and you can see the problem that we’re in.”
The AmNews attended a class at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, one of the five schools where Slevin coaches. World-Record-Holder Merle Liivand led a breaststroke boot camp for competitive swimmers. Liivand, also known as “The Eco-Mermaid,” began the class by speaking to the swimmers and their parents about the importance of coral reefs around the world, her concern about warming oceans, sea-level rise, and mentioned The Billion Oyster Project in New York.
‘The Eco-Mermaid’ revealed that she wishes to live in a world where swimming is encouraged and properly funded as an environmental activity. Liivand’s latest swimming achievement was breaking the Guinness World Records for the longest swim with a monofin and restrained arms. She swam 50 kilometers in 14 hours and 15 minutes, all while collecting trash.
“Pick up trash and make a change,” she told the young swimmers.
Slevin’s students are a diverse crowd with Memo, a triathlon competitor, Jerry, who enjoys swimming with his son, Rin, who is hoping to join the Marines, and children from elementary to high school, all learning how to swim and identify the threats water poses as extreme weather patterns continue to increase.