State parks offer free swimming lessons for kids

Taughannock Falls State Park and Cayuga Lake are among 15 parks in New York state to offer free swimming lessons this summer for children.

This is the third year of the Learn-to-Swim program started by Rose Harvey, commissioner of New York State Parks. After a press conference at Taughannock Falls State Park Tuesday, Harvey said she saw the need for the program after watching children who couldn’t swim jump into a state park pool.

“You just watch so many kids jump in and they were from communities that don’t have pools, were urban, don’t have the wherewithal to get out to where our parks are — they were jumping in and we had to save them all the time,” she said. “It became clear that the most important thing we can do for water safety, for human safety, and for lifelong enjoyment is to teach and make it free.”

Learn-to-Swim is for children ages 6-12. The program is made possible through a partnership between the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the American Red Cross, National Swimming Pool Foundation and the Northeast Spa and Pool Association.

Taughannock Falls and Cayuga Lake state parks are still registering children for the free programs. Taughannock will offer another class July 20-31. A class at Cayuga Lake will be held Aug. 3-14.

Admission to the park by car is free for those registered for the learn to swim program.

The classes are designed to help children become comfortable in an open water environment and will provide basic swimming and water safety techniques, according to a news release.

Michele Mitrani of Trumansburg brought her children, Mary Cassidy, 8, and Penelope Cassidy, 6, to the classes being offered at Taughannock Falls State Park.

“It’s a nice excuse to come and spend time in the lake, and my kids need to learn how to swim,” Mitrani said, noting Mary is an intermediate swimmer and Penelope is a beginner.

All children in the program must be accompanied by a guardian.

The program reached 700 children statewide in 2014 and will reach 2,000 this year.

“We intend to grow this so that it’s an integral part of many many more parks in our system,” Harvey said.

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Swimming classes

To register or for more information, call (607) 387-6739 for Taughannock Falls or (315) 568-5163 for Cayuga Lake.

Classes run one hour. Students must attend all 10 classes. Students will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis as space is limited.

TCAT will provide free transportation for students and accompanying adults to Taughannock Falls State Park.