Swim Event

Teaching & Learning

**This event was featured on KSDK, which you can view online HERE!**

This winter marks the fourth year in an ongoing program designed to teach the children of CFNA life-saving swimming skills.

The program began after Henry Manu, a student at Lutheran High School South, drowned while swimming in the Meramec River. Henry was an immigrant from Liberia, and he had never learned how to swim. Wanting to honor Henry, members of the Lutheran South swim team partnered with CFNA to host their first winter swim program, with the goal of preventing a similar tragedy from occurring.

Today, both swim team members and additional students from Lutheran South are serving as swim instructors to the kids. For some, it is their first time helping out at the event, but others have participated for years. One experienced volunteer, Abigail McGue, said about the program, “CFNA swim lessons are very joyful. Every volunteer and kid is clearly having an amazing time.”

One look into the pool during lesson time is enough to make that statement clear. After being sorted into one of four groups based on their ability and experience, the kids are led into the pool by their instructors. There, they spend one hour learning new skills, practicing swimming drills, playing water games, and sharing smiles.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing to see is the progress that the kids make. Though many kids are hesitant to get in the pool during their first lesson, by the end of the program, they are able to confidently move around in the water. Some even manage to navigate the deep end and are able to swim across the length of the pool. For the volunteers involved, witnessing this progress is part of what makes the event so meaningful. As McGue puts it, “This experience has had a very positive impact on me, and hopefully just as much, if not more, on the kids we serve.”

The lessons will continue every Saturday 10:30–12:00 through February 8.

By Stephanie Kolm

Having Fun

New Swimmers!