Osceola County, St. Cloud to pay for children to learn to swim

Natalia Jaramillo, Orlando Sentinel
·2 min read
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Osceola County and the city of St. Cloud are trying to reduce the number of children who drowned with a new initiative that will teach them how to swim for free.

The city has partnered with Osceola Commissioner Ricky Booth to fund swim lessons for at least 150 area children.

“I know several of the folks that attended this morning were impacted by childhood drownings,” Booth said Monday about the partnership during a County Commission meeting. “It’s a big deal.”

Osceola children between 6 months and 14 years old can take eight lessons at Chris Lyle Aquatic Center in June and July. Parents will be reimbursed for the cost of the half-hour lessons. The center is located at 2991 17th Street in St. Cloud.

For information on swim lessons at the center, click here.

The $10,000 program comes after an increasing trend in childhood drownings in the county, statewide and nationwide.

In Osceola County four children, most of whom were 4 and under, drowned in 2022 — a decrease from the year before when five drowned but an increasing trend from previous years.

Florida ranked highest in the nation for unintentional drownings in children between ages 1 and 4, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. For every 100,000 people, 6.29 children drowned between 2017 and 2019, data shows.

The state is trying to lower the rate of childhood drownings through a voucher program to fund swim lessons for low-income families which takes effect July 1.

The increasing trend in childhood drownings is also felt nationwide.

From 2020 through 2022 drownings increased across the board among children and adults, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency also found that minorities are less likely to have ever received swim lessons.

CDC data shows that 72% of Hispanics and 63% of Black people have never received lessons — a challenge in Osceola County since the majority of its population identify as a minority. Over 50% of the county’s population identify as Hispanic, the latest census data shows.