Amid rising number of drownings in Metro Detroit this summer, Metroparks working to offer free swim lessons

(WWJ) — Metro Detroit has seen a startling increase in drowning in public lakes this summer.

Oakland County has seen 10 drownings — including four in the past three weeks — and last weekend a 57-year-old drowned while swimming at Lake St. Clair Metropark.

On Wednesday officials with Huron-Clinton Metroparks announced their “Everyone In The Pool” campaign, designed to help stop the rising number of drownings by offering free swimming lessons year-round for children and adults.

The campaign aims to be able to offer more than 6,000 free swimming lessons a year by 2028.

“The most important thing is to be able to provide those lessons at no cost to families because swim lessons are so incredibly expensive that it’s such an obstacle for most families,” Metroparks Director Amy McMillan told WWJ’s Tim Pamplin.

McMillan said it’s “an absolute tragedy each and every time” someone drowns.

Over the past three years, the Metroparks organization has partnered with public and nonprofit organizations throughout Metro Detroit to collaborate on free water safety and swim lessons delivered to more than 4,600 students.

“Drowning is an epidemic that hits low-income families and children of color the hardest, with Black children aged 5-19 five and a half times as likely as white children in the same age group to die from drowning,” the campaign’s website says. “In Detroit, nearly 80% of children residing in households with incomes below $50,000 do not know how to swim and a substantial 70% of youth have little to no swim experience.”

More information on the “Everyone In The Pool” campaign can be found on the Metroparks website .