08/30/2024
Drowning deaths are on the rise in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and New York state hopes to reverse that trend by helping more people learn to enjoy the water safely. SUNY Cortland is happy to dive in and lead the way.
The New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming (NY SWIMS) initiative, announced Aug. 29, gives $150 million for projects to increase public access to swimming resources, with an added $2 million in the 2025 budget to make pools at 12 SUNY campuses “community anchors.” The office of Gov. Kathy Hochul called it the biggest investment in swimming in the state since the New Deal of the 1930s.
Brian Tobin, head swimming and diving coach at SUNY Cortland, said the university is one of the campuses chosen for the program. He helped create a proposal requesting a state maximum $65,000 from the NY SWIMS budget, which was granted.
The planned changes will add to what Tobin describes as an already robust aquatics program. In addition to lifeguard and safety instructor courses available to students for credit, there are public swim lessons offered at the Harriet Holsten Pool in Park Center and at the Student Life Center.
NY SWIMS lets SUNY Cortland make more of those classes available on campus and in the surrounding community.
“New York SWIMS is a major initiative,” Tobin said. "We’re talking about life and safety, so I was excited when I heard it officially.”
The money allows the school to train 30 more lifeguards and 20 more water safety instructors — commonly known as swim instructors — per semester. That increase includes triple the approximately 15 lifeguards who could previously take the course.
More training equipment like pool noodles will also be bought, letting learners and instructors alike make the best use of their time in the water.
A collaboration with the city of Cortland’s YMCA and YWCA will further improve children’s access to swim lessons in the area. Tobin noted that new training for swim instructors would help them to teach people in their classes with special needs.
These new programs can begin this September, he said.
“We want to have this run not just through the academic year, but also when it wraps up — May and June in particular, when Central New York weather warms up and people are thinking about swimming,” Tobin explained. “That will be absolutely critical with regard to education and giving people opportunities to make sure that they can learn how to be safe in and around the water.”
New opportunities for Cortland students may also be available soon — even those who stay on dry land.
“We want to offer training for physical education majors and other education majors here. Giving them a bag of tools when they’re in a classroom and don’t have access to a pool,” Tobin said. “They can still talk and work with students on water safety in a meaningful manner. It’s not just swim lessons and being confident in the water. It’s also the between the ears.”
Tobin added that the leading cause of death in 1- to 4-year-olds is drowning, so it’s vital to get safety information to parents ahead of preschool.
“We’d like to run some parental education because I firmly believe the best thing that we can do is make sure that parents understand how to act and how to take care of their kids in and around water.”