Receiving swim lessons from a qualified instructor reduces the risk of drowning by 88% among children ages one to four. This underscores the importance of water safety programs, like those provided through Foss Swim School, that save lives through swim education and create safer swimmers to help drive down the drowning rate. Step Into Swim will be able to make a positive impact across a wide range of communities in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin thanks to the generous donation from Foss Swim School paired with a gift match.
“I am excited for Step Into Swim to partner with Foss Swim School, pulling our resources together to increase access to safe swim education where it’s needed in the Midwest,” says Olympic Gold Medalist Rowdy Gaines, PHTA vice president of partnerships & development, who leads the Step Into Swim initiative. “Jon and Susan Foss are innovators in the swim safety world who have impacted millions of lives with their quality swim instruction over the last 30 years. It’s inspiring to find a program like Foss that believes in safe swimming just as much as we do.”
Foss Swim School shares Step Into Swim’s commitment to creating safer swimmers and prioritizing drowning prevention education. For more than 30 years, Foss Swim School has focused on making swimming part of child enrichment and building skills for a lifetime of confidence. Foss Swim School has 27 dedicated swim schools in six states across the Midwest, with more schools being built in the next year.
“I have always been a huge fan of Rowdy’s and when we finally had the chance to meet last year, we instantly bonded over our passion for teaching as many kids water safety skills as possible,” shares Foss Swim School co-founder Jon Foss. “By partnering up with Step Into Swim, we can help give more kids access to lifesaving swim lessons.”
Contributions like this from Foss Swim School are integral to growing Step Into Swim’s mission. Step Into Swim raised over $1 million in 2023, which has provided grants to more than 100 facilities in 35 states and funded swim lessons for 27,000 children. The initiative has gifted swim lessons to more than 330,000 children since 2012 through YMCAs, Jewish Community Centers, Boys and Girls Clubs and many more. Step Into Swim is funded through contributions and 100% of donations go to learn-to-swim programming. To learn more, visit www.stepintoswim.org. To learn more about or to apply for a scholarship with Foss, visit their website.
