In New York, and throughout the country, nonswimmers are mo re likely to be black. In 2010, the U.S.A. Swimming Foundation found that 69 percent of black children, 58 percent of Latino children and 42 percent of white children said they had little to no swimming ability. Racial discrimination and poverty have limited African-Americans’ access to pools. Cultural fears about the water that can be traced back to slavery also persist. And so, black children drown at almost triple the overall national rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New York City, however, can turn this around for its own kids. If the city works with businesses and nonprofits, it can offer free swim lessons to every single New Yorker.

Swim lessons locally can range from roughly $100 for several weeks of group classes to $50 or more for a single private lesson. For many people, that’s out of reach.

The parks department runs the largest program in the city offering free lessons, serving about 30,000 people every year. This summer, 2,419 are still on a wait list for the lessons, according to the department. A schools program , Swim for Life, provided 10 weeks of swim lessons to 6,000 second-graders this past school year.