The Dunlevy Milbank Community Center has launched a new drowning-prevention system aimed at protecting its youngest swimmers. The center, in partnership with WAVE, unveiled the new technology to be implemented at their Olympic-sized pool in Harlem on Thursday, Feb. 20.
The system consists of a headband for the swimmers and a wristwatch for the lifeguards. The headband tracks swimmers’ time underwater and the wristwatch vibrates to alert the lifeguards when a swimmer has spent 15 seconds below the surface.
The center reaches communities beyond Harlem, and its partnership with WAVE aims to reduce the number of African American and Hispanic children with little to no swimming abilities. The lessons are free for high schoolers and teenagers. The new technology ensures the swimming classes will be safer for kids, building a competitive generation of Harlem swimmers in New York City.
A study published in 2017 by the USA Swimming Foundation revealed that nearly 64% of African American and 45% of Hispanic children have no or low swimming ability, which increases their drowning risk.
Jordan Lane, a lifeguard who began swimming at the center at age 7, explained how WAVE will improve the services provided by the aquatics team. “After 15 seconds, all lifeguards will get an alert on their wrist watch,” Lane said. “That gives us time to identify who it is, [and] figure out how we are going to get there and what’s the best action plan to save them. After another 15 seconds, if they are still underneath the water, then a WAVE hub makes a really loud sound that everybody in the building can hear.”
The center has been a crucial part of Harlem’s community and its residents for generations — it opened in 1958. The center provides access to health services, an indoor heated pool, a gymnasium, a soccer field, and support for youth and families.
“I started here when I was 6 years old. I was on a swim team called the Sharks before we became the Sting Rays,” said Dexter Tucker, aquatics director, swim coach, and lifelong member of the center, told the AmNews.
Tucker is passionate about the center’s mission: He believes the lessons go beyond swimming. “This is a place where we try to get the kids to stay out of the streets. We try to mentor a lot of these kids — we teach them life skills and job training. We also help them become lifeguards. We have a swimming team — that’s how Jordan became [a lifeguard].”
Harlem’s predominantly Black and Brown population has had access to the Milbank Center for decades. According to the NYU Furman Center, 45.8% of Harlem residents identified as Black in 2022 and 28.2% identified as Hispanic.
Generations of New Yorkers have learned how to swim at the center, including Hailey Perez, a middle schooler who has access to the lessons through her after-school program. “It is really fun,” she said. “They teach me new things and they are the reason I know how to swim.” Hailey said she “loves” the lessons because she gets to “play with her friends.”
Launching WAVE not only guarantees continued access; it also helps parents feel safer about their kids learning to swim. Fabiola Carrera told the AmNews in Spanish, “The important thing for me is that my kids learn how to swim, learn how to save someone who is drowning. They have been coming since 2018.”
Fabiola, a mother from the Bronx, highlighted the importance of WAVE for the center and her kids’ future. “I always felt my kids were safe here, mostly because of the coaches, but now I feel more reassured, and I know in the future they could get a job as lifeguards,” she said. “I am very happy about that.”