More Than 3,000 Children and Adults in Southeast Michigan Received Free Swim Lessons in 2024 through Everyone in the Pool Initiative

February 26, 2025

In 2024, Huron-Clinton Metroparks expanded in-school swim lessons, added adult classes and launched a lifeguard training pilot program

Just one year after expanding the Everyone in the Pool swim initiative, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks and its partners are making life-saving impacts across Southeast Michigan. In 2024, 3,128 free swim lessons were provided to adults and children, surpassing the Metroparks’ goal for the year. For the first time, the initiative also offered in-school swim lessons and adult classes.

The Metroparks and its community partners provided more than 4,600 children with life-saving swim lessons free of charge from 2021 to 2023. At the end of 2023, the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority Board of Commissioners approved the expanded Everyone in the Pool 5-year plan, which began in 2024. 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 Metroparks is working to reverse these trends and save lives by increasing access to free swim lessons and lifesaving water skills in underserved communities through the expansion of its Everyone in the Pool swim initiative.

“By meeting and exceeding our 2024 goals, we’re addressing the urgent need for water safety education while building a foundation for a safer and more accessible future in Southeast Michigan,” said Amy McMillan, director of Huron-Clinton Metroparks. “We know access is one of the biggest barriers to learning how to swim and we want to ensure everyone in our communities, regardless of their circumstances, have the opportunity to gain these lifesaving skills.”

Expanding Access to Life-Saving Water Skills

The 2024 Everyone in the Pool annual report highlights significant progress in water safety skill development. Last year, 10 partner organizations offered free water safety and swim lesson programs to 3,128 participants across Livingston, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Wayne counties at 20 locations. More than half of the participants left lessons with an average or high skill level in back floating, a vital survival technique that allows swimmers to keep their heads above water and float to safety. Additionally, 87% of swimmers gained the ability to enter and exit the water independently and 57% achieved an average or high skill level in bobbing, a technique that teaches controlled breathing after accidental submersion.

“We know how learning to swim reduces the drowning rate, improves cardiovascular health, and decreases child obesity, but the impact of this program goes beyond that—It’s changing lives,” said Jecoliah Warren, Aquatics Coordinator for the City of Detroit. “Last year, I spoke to two grandmothers who shared that not only did their grandsons learn how to swim, but they were able to overcome their fears of water. That lets me know our program is working!  To partner on this with Metroparks for another year means a lot to me as a Detroiter and our community.”

In 2024, the Metroparks introduced free in-school swim lessons for the first time, integrating lessons into the school day to remove barriers like transportation and parental work schedules. The Metroparks added Whitmore Lake Public Schools as a new partner in 2024. In addition to hosting adult swim lessons, free in-school lessons were offered to all first and second-graders at Whitmore Lake Elementary School. Sessions lasted two weeks, offering a total of ten lessons to each student. At Detroit Public Schools Community District’s East English Village Preparatory Academy, swim lessons facilitated by the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit – Detroit Swims program were incorporated into high school gym classes, ensuring every student has the opportunity to learn essential skills. Swim lessons were also made available after school at South Lake High School for students in the district.

“With the support of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Everyone in the Pool program, we were able to support every first and second grader in 2024, and in 2025 are expanding into third- and fourth-grade students in our district,” said Ann Kehn, Recreation and Aquatics Director, Whitmore Lake Public Schools. “What an amazing opportunity to meet the kids in the pool during the school day. Now every child in this lake community is being taught the basic skills to be safe in and around the water.”  

Last year, Metroparks also launched free adult swim lessons, with courses held at six YMCA locations in Macomb, Detroit, Farmington Hills, Wyandotte, Birmingham and Royal Oak, as well as at Whitmore Lake High School Community Pool. When adults feel confident and knowledgeable around water, they’re more likely to promote water safety and ensure the children in their lives learn to swim and navigate water responsibly.

Increasing the Number of Certified Swim Instructors in Southeast Michigan

Lifeguard shortages have been a recurring challenge not just in Michigan but across the country. The Everyone in the Pool 5-Year Plan included expanding lifeguard training programs by launching a pilot collaborative lifeguard training program with the YMCA. In 2024, in partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, Metroparks launched a pilot training program and trained six new Metroparks lifeguards for free, who were then employed through the summer.

Metroparks also worked with Annapolis High School, which had a pool and wanted to offer swim lessons but lacked the funding and personnel. Metroparks secured grant funding through the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to help build capacity and worked with the YMCA to bring in an instructor and train six lifeguards. With lifeguards and water safety instructors in place, Annapolis High School will be able to offer free swim lessons to Dearborn Heights students for the first time in 2025.

“When community service organizations and public services join forces, the community wins. Thousands of children and their parents will experience water safety and swim lessons this summer, thanks to the Everyone in the Pool initiative,” said Amanda Barone, Regional Aquatics Director for YMCA Metro Detroit. “One of the gems of this union has been offering free lifeguard training. We will never truly know how many lives we have saved through our partnership, but we know more of our children and families are safer around water because we came together.”

Securing Funding to Expand Free Swim Lessons

In addition to budgeted dollars from the Metroparks, the Metroparks successfully secured grants from several sources to support the expansion and carry it into 2025. The CDC Foundation provided the Metroparks with up to $50,039 in grant funding to expand in-school swim lessons, including partnerships at DPSCD, South Lake High School, and Center Line Public Schools. Additionally, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan committed $77,320 to expand Everyone in the Pool to help increase adult lessons, lifeguard trainings, and water safety instructor trainings with the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit and Dearborn Heights School District #7. Metroparks continues to look creatively at partnerships and funding to find ways to grow and expand impacts in 2025 and beyond.

“The Everyone in the Pool program aligns with our vision of a southeast Michigan where everyone thrives,” said Greg Yankee, associate vice president of Program at the Community Foundation. “It removes financial barriers to water safety and swim education courses, while increasing opportunities for lifeguard certification training. Thanks to the Huron-Clinton Metroparks and its partners, more children and adults in our region have the life-saving skills they need to stay safe in the water.”

Everyone in the Pool is part of Metroparks and Me, a multi-year initiative geared toward breaking the barriers that limit access to essential health, wellness, education and quality-of-life opportunities. If you are interested in signing up for swim lessons or partnering with the Huron-Clinton Metroparks to expand access to critical life-saving swim skills, please visit www.metroparks.com/everyone-in-the-pool/.