Free swimming classes and equipment help improve water safety across Metro Detroit

This story is part of a series exploring how parks serve as engines of exploration, education, play, and equity. It is made possible with support from Huron-Clinton Metroparks and the City of Detroit.

When Raymond Harris started taking swim classes at Detroit recreation centers at age 4, he says he remembers "crying a lot."

"I didn't want to be in that water," he says. "You know, you're young, you're cold, you got this big body of water, and random people to you at that time telling you to do this and that. But I really just remember being in the water every day, because the more time you spend, the better you get, and the more progress you'll see."
Nick HagenRaymond Harris.
Despite his initial hesitancy, Harris took to his new skill quickly and eventually made it his adult profession. He joined his school's swim team from ages 6 to 12. Now 30, he's spent the past nine years working as a lifeguard in Detroit rec centers, teaching the next generation of youngsters (and many adults) to swim. As an instructor for the city of Detroit's Swim in the D program, he's part of a network of programs across Metro Detroit that seeks to address high drowning rates and low swimming skills with free water safety education.
Nick HagenRaymond Harris teaches a water safety class at Adams Butzel Complex in Detroit.
Harris says he loves watching kids progress from no experience in the pool to splashing, playing, and swimming comfortably. 

"That's what makes me happy about the job: just knowing that I'm going to affect someone's life in a positive way," he says. "I'm happy to come and I'm happy to be here just to do my part. I think of it as community service, like giving back. This is where I come from. Why not come back and pass along what you learned?"

"Everybody deserves that opportunity"

Alarming statistics show much higher drowning rates for people of color compared to white people, which are often correlated with people of color having less access to swimming lessons. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Indian and Black people have the highest drowning death rates in the U.S., and Black and Hispanic people are far less likely to have learned to swim than white people. According to the American Red Cross, 64% of African-American children, and 79% of children living in households making under $50,000, have few to no swimming skills.

This raises particular concern in Detroit, which is 76.8% Black according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

"Disproportionately, African-Americans do not have as much access [to water safety education] or they tend not to learn to swim," says Keith Flournoy, deputy director of the city of Detroit's recreation division. "So for us, our role is to provide access and provide opportunities for people to learn swimming."

Amanda Barone, regional director of aquatics for the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, says it's important to educate people of all ages, not just children, on water safety. She says fear of water, rooted in lack of water safety education, is easily passed down through generations.

"A lot of what happens is that a kid becomes in danger and then there's no adults, no parents, or anybody who has the skills or the knowledge to know how to help them," she says. "So then you have an adult trying to help and now you have two people in trouble instead of someone who can help."

Amy McMillan, director of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, adds that it's important to be able to offer swimming and water safety lessons for free. Whether at a public pool or in a private lesson, she says, "it is hard for parents to afford to put their kids into swim lessons."

"For us, this is really an equity issue," she says. "We want every single person, regardless of age, of where they live, their income, to be able to come to one of our beaches or to jump in one of our pools and be safe and have a great time and experience this iconic part of summer in Michigan. Absolutely everybody deserves that opportunity."

Free education and equipment available

Flournoy says the city of Detroit and the metro area don't lack for pools (or waterfront). For the city and other local organizations that provide water safety education, he says the key is "removing barriers." That's the intention behind programs like Swim in the D, which has provided free swimming lessons for 800 to 1,000 children annually since it launched in 2021. 

That program is a collaboration with the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, which has its own water safety education program called Everyone in the Pool. Through Everyone in the Pool, the Metroparks fund instructors and swimming equipment for free lessons at public and nonprofit facilities across Livingston, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
Huron-Clinton MetroparksKids participate in an Everyone in the Pool swimming lesson.
Everyone in the Pool started as a collaboration with Swim in the D and has served over 7,700 participants. Flournoy says Metroparks funding to provide free swimming gear to participants is crucial.

"If a child doesn't have goggles or a swimming cap or bathing suit, [the Metroparks] provide that," he says. "So that's a barrier that they've removed, and that's the role that they've taken on in helping us remove barriers. ... This is very impactful."
Huron-Clinton MetroparksKids participate in an Everyone in the Pool swimming lesson.
The YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit also provides a variety of water safety programming. In addition to traditional swimming classes offered for a fee, it will provide free classes for 325 kids and 200 adults this summer thanks to support from Everyone in the Pool. It also has a community initiative called Detroit Swims, which aims to provide free water safety classes for 1,000 kids a year at sites across Detroit.

The Metroparks have sought to bolster water safety in other ways, in and outside of Metropark locations. Last year, the system partnered with the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit to pilot a program that provided free lifeguard training program to six participants. The Metroparks have also introduced stations at their beaches where parkgoers can borrow free life jackets, and this summer the system will host events where residents can take home their own life jackets for free. The system is also introducing new water safety equipment including life boards and throw bags at its beaches this year, and it's added new state-of-the-art equipment for park police responding to emergencies in the water.
Huron-Clinton MetroparksKids participate in an Everyone in the Pool swimming lesson.
"At every level, we are working really hard to improve safety at our beaches," McMillan says. "We want everybody to start with learning how to swim, taking the time to put a life jacket on when they're in the water, and, if something goes wrong, improving our response should we need to do that."

The impact of water safety education

McMillan says she and her staff receive "incredible" feedback from people who participate in Everyone in the Pool programming. 
Huron-Clinton MetroparksKids participate in an Everyone in the Pool swimming lesson.
"We'll hear from parents saying how they've been afraid to be in the water and how important it is for them to be able to swim with their kids," she says. "... You would be heartbroken to hear the number of stories that we hear every year about somebody who is a parent or a grandparent or an aunt or uncle who lost a member of their family to drowning and is committed to make sure that that doesn't happen in any of the generations going forward. So this is a universally popular program and we're grateful to be in a position to help lead [it]."
Nick HagenKids participate in a water safety class at Adams Butzel Complex in Detroit.
Flournoy says he enjoys watching the simple evolution of children going from "frolicking" in the shallow end of the pool, watching other kids swim, to being able to swim themselves.

"Now they've found another way to enjoy the water safely," he says. "Most of the feedback we receive comes back by the way of 'thank you.' And for me that's enough."