ISHOF’s Every Child a Swimmer Featured on CBS Miami for National Water Safety Month
With May being National Water Safety Month, the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) continues its fight to bring swimming to children through Every Child A Swimmer.
It is a non-profit organization that provides lessons to children in need of water safety.
Casey McGovern is one of the faces of the program and she discussed water safety with CBS Miami as part of water safety month.
McGovern lost her 19-month-old daughter Edna Mae to an accidental drowning in 2009.
“I caught the glimpse of my baby girl floating in the pool and my world stopped,” Casey told CBS Miami.
It just took a short span of McGovern putting groceries away, she said.
“I made her a promise that I would do everything in my power until my last breath to make a difference and help other families never experience that same heartache,” said Casey.
Casey started the McGovern Foundation and started pushing for changes for children and parents around the water, including legislation in Florida.
The Every Child a Swimmer legislation passed in 2021 and went into effect in Florida this school year, according to the CBS Miami report.
The law states Florida schools must ask incoming kindergarten parents if their child has taken swim lessons and knows how to swim. If not, the schools provide educational resources.
The challenge is making sure every district knows about the law.
“Between our tri-county area we probably have the highest drowning rate in the state. This information is not being shared and so we need more schools to participate, we need more schools to be sharing this information and we will help them do that,” McGovern said. “It’s just that conversation. It’s that awareness, it’s that education that we need so desperately.”