What’s News, Breaking: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
KIDS ‘STROKE FOR HOPE’ AT CHARITY SWIM-A-THON
CROWN HEIGHTS — Junior swimmers splashed for cash last Friday during the inaugural Imagine Swimming Stroke-For-Hope charity fundraiser at the Major Owens Community Center pool in Crown Heights, raising $26,000 for Hope Floats, which gives swim lesson scholarship assistance to underprivileged children. Special guests included three-time Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin and National High School Champion Roman Jones, who attended to raise awareness for water safety and drowning prevention and to advocate for increased diversity in the sport of swimming.
Children from lower-income families and marginalized communities can face greater drowning risks, due to the inaccessibility of swim lessons; a 2017 survey from the USA Swimming Foundation found that 79% of children from families earning less than $50,000 a year had little to no swimming ability — a trend Hope Floats and Imagine Swimming intend to reverse.