3.2 Million Swimming Lessons and a Mission to Reach Zero Drownings

We recently hit a milestone that stopped me in my tracks: 

3.2 million swimming lessons taught!

When I started Ocaquatics in a hotel pool in 1994, I was a 22-year-old single mother teaching a handful of kids to swim so I could pay the bills. If you'd told me that one day we'd reach 3.2 million lessons across five locations, I would never have believed it.

But here's what I think about when I hear that number: 3.2 million opportunities where a child learned something that could save their life.

Because drowning is still the number one cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 14 in Miami Dade County. It happens silently. It happens fast. And it's almost entirely preventable.

That's why we partnered with Miami-Dade County on the Zero Drownings Miami Dade initiative. We're bringing swimming lessons into public schools, reaching kids who might never set foot in a private swim school. Kids in underserved communities where access to pools and lessons has always been limited.

This matters because water safety shouldn't depend on your zip code. Whether your family can afford swimming lessons shouldn't determine whether your child knows how to save their own life.

Our Ripples of Impact nonprofit funds lessons for families who are experiencing financial hardship. Every speaking engagement I do, every dollar I earn from sharing our story, goes back into getting more kids in the water.

3.2 million is a beautiful number. But honestly? It's not enough. Not when there are still kids in our community who don't know how to swim. Not when families are still losing children to something preventable.

So we keep going. Until zero drownings isn't just a goal. It's a reality.