Parks dive into World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel
Lily Lynum, 6, practices underwater swimming in the wave pool at SeaWorld Orlando Aquatica during the 'World's Largest Swimming Lesson,' Thursday, June 21, 2018. More than 700 locations worldwide hosted 45,000 swimmers simultaneously for the annual event promoting safe swimming. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) 3051620
Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
In 2019, the World's Largest Swimming Lesson event included instruction at Blizzard Beach water park at Walt Disney World. This year, folks will learn about water safety at the resort's Typhoon Lagoon.

By Dewayne Bevil | dbevil@orlandosentinel.com | Orlando Sentinel

PUBLISHED: June 14, 2022 at 5:10 a.m. | UPDATED: June 14, 2022 at 5:35 p.m.

Two Central Florida water parks will be among the participants in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, an awareness event set for June 23.

Island H2O water park in Kissimmee and Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World will be among the hundreds of international locations holding simultaneous water-safety instruction. Chris Lyle Aquatic Center in St. Cloud is also on board with the event, which is coordinated by World Waterpark Association.

The group launched the annual gatherings in 2010.

It points to the World Health Organization estimation that drowning is one of the top five causes of death for people age between the ages of 1 and 14 in 48 of the 85 countries that it monitors. In addition, research says the risk of drowning goes down 88 percent if children have formal swimming lessons between the ages of 1 and 4 years old.

For more information, go to WLSL.org.

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