West Mesa Aquatic Center hosts free swimming lessons as part of worldwide event

Carlos Elwell was getting ready to try something new and was anxious about dipping his toe in the water, literally.

“I’m a little nervous because I don’t know how to swim,” the teen said before his lesson at the West Mesa Aquatic Center. “I want to be able to go swimming with my friends.”

Thursday morning, he was among hundreds of children and adults filling the aquatic center to participate in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department partnered with the World Waterpark Association and the Albuquerque Metropolitan Drowning Prevention Coalition to provide free swimming lessons as part of the worldwide event. Albuquerque was one of hundreds of cities to take part.

David Simon, director of Parks and Recreation, said the program is designed to teach participants basic water-safety skills that could end up saving lives.

“Learning how to swim should be a basic life skill. This is just one element in our overall efforts to increasing the drowning prevention program,” he said.

The city has a goal of teaching over 100,000 children how to swim within the next decade.

“We’re stroking towards our goal right now. We want people to know it’s never too late to learn how to swim,” Simon said. “Besides water safety, learning how to swim opens up the door to more recreational fun.”

Josette Romero, mother to swim lesson participant Carlos Elwell, said she felt it is important for her teenage son to have an opportunity to learn water safety.

“I wanted to have my son learn,” she said. “I saw it was free and it’s very good for water-safety skills. My hope is for him to learn the basics of swimming and continue learning.”

Elwell was placed in the intro to freestyle class, which is designed for older participants to learn how to swim. Adults were in the indoor pool, where they would have the option of swimming in shallower water. If they seemed more confident in their skills, instructors placed them into deeper water. During the class, Elwell was taught how to float on his back, get comfortable swimming into deeper water, and tread in water.

By the end of his 30-minute session, Elwell had successfully floated on his back, swam back and forth in the pool and even jumped into the deeper end.

“I feel way more confident than I did before,” Elwell said at the end of his lessons.

Across the aquatic center, younger children were testing their water skills for the first time, learning how to brave the water.

Instructors were teaching children how to bob under water and float. The kids were hesitant to dive into lessons in the beginning but by the end were proudly kicking around the water.

Shawn Kemp is a father to six children and brought all of them for the lessons. He said watching his children learn how to swim was enjoyable and a great relief for him as a parent.

“I think it’s important to learn how to swim. The instructors were great, and I think they did a great job introducing them to the water,” Kemp said.

One of his children, Ashawn Kemp, said he felt good being able to swim with his siblings.

“My favorite part was learning to float on my back,” Ashawn said.

Instructors from swim schools across Albuquerque volunteered their time to help people master their skills.

Russell and Nicole Smith own swim school Green Feet Swimming. Both taught lessons Thursday and said it is important to give back to their community.

“Some of the swim schools were asked by the city to provide some swimming lessons,” Russell Smith said. “We told the city if they provide the pool, we can provide the staff and the lessons. Our swim school will keep offering free swim lessons because we know not everyone can afford it and it’s important for us to give what we can since we’re in a position to do it now.”