The Otter Swim and Dive Teams Are Joining Together to Raise Money to Help Prevent Accidental Drownings in Historically Underrepresented and Vulnerable Communities.

How to donate:

CLICK HERE be directed to the Oakton Otters donation page.

During the week of ______ (for Dive) and on Wednesday, June 16th (for Swim), we invite all members of the swim and dive teams to participate in a joint Tread- and Dive-a-Thon, to raise money for the non-profit International Water Safety Association.

Drowning is a “global epidemic.” The International Water Safety Association is working to create a nation where all communities have access to quality educational aquatic opportunities in order to reduce the risk of unintentional drowning deaths in historically underrepresented communities and vulnerable populations. The Otter Dive and Swim teams would like to be part of the solution.

We are so lucky to live in a community where it is more common than not for kids to learn to swim at a young age. Many communities in the United States are not as fortunate, and the tragic result is accidental drowning deaths that might have been preventable with early water safety and basic swim skills. Consider these facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USA Swimming and the University of Memphis (USA):

• (CDC) In the U.S. from 2005-2014 there were approximately 10 unintentional drowning deaths per day;
• (CDC) One in five Americans who die from drowning are children age 14 and younger (children ages 1-4 have the highest rates);
• (USA) 64% of Black, 45% of Hispanic, and 40% of White children have little or no swim ability;
• (USA) 79% of children in low-income families in the U.S. have little or no ability to swim;
• (CDC) Black children ages 5-19 drown at rates 5.5 times higher than white children; Black children ages 10-11 drown at rates 10 times higher than whites;
• (USA) The chance that a child in the United States will learn to swim if his/her parents do not know how to swim is 13%.

Here’s how this will work:

For the Tread-a-Thon, on June 16th, swimmers will swim laps at swim practice and will keep track of the number of laps that they swim for the whole practice. Families who would like to donate may make a donation based on the number of laps or may make a flat donation.

For the Dive-a-Thon, starting with practices Monday morning (XXXX) and concluding with practices Friday morning (XXXX), the dive practice assistants will track the TOTAL number of dives completed by all participants. We will communicate the final tally at the end of the week. Families who would like to participate may make a donation based on the number of dives (e.g., $0.25/dive) or make a flat donation.

The coaches will do their part to explain the Tread-a-Thon and get swimmers excited to participate, but we hope that you will also have a conversation with your swimmer(s) about this important cause. Thanks in advance for your support! Note: All swimmers are welcome to participate, regardless of whether a donation is made (which is completely optional)!