It’s Time for Water Safety Day at Splash Country!

As the weather heats up, it’s time to cool down in the pool. Before you do, make sure you know all the ways to stay safe this summer. With that in mind, Leconte Medical Center and Dollywood’s Splash Country are teaming up to bring you the ninth annual Water Safety Day! 

LeConte team at water safety day

Water Saftey Day
Thursday, June 21, 2018

10am-2pm
Registration for World’s Largest Swim Lesson: 
9-9:45am, Lesson at 10am
Dollywood’s Splash Country
Paid park admission required 

Get ready to take a deep dive into learning and fun at Dollywood’s Splash Country with giveaways, booths, water activities, and of course the World’s Largest Swim Lesson

What happens at the swim lesson? At 10 a.m., participants will attempt to set the world record for a swim lesson in the Wave Pool. We’ll be doing this on the same day as other facilities from over 24 countries around the world, all part of an attempt to set another Guinness World Record for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson! 

The purpose of the event? Water Safety Day provides children and parents exposure to life-saving water safety skills and builds awareness about the vital importance of teaching children to swim to help prevent drowning.

In addition to the swimming lesson, vendor booths will be open from 10am-2pm. It promises to be a day of fun in the sun as all park-goers can learn about:

  • Boating safety
  • Skin cancer prevention
  • Emergency first aid
  • General water safety
  • Recognizing signs of stroke

There will also be door prizes and giveaways! Sponsors include LeConte Medical Center, Dollywood’s Splash Country, WVLT Local 8 News, Star 102.1, and the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation.

Organizers are working to connect the dots between the real risk of childhood drowning and the need for basic water competency skills and crucial parental supervision to keep kids safe in and around the water. Research shows:

It just might be the “splash heard around the world” – a goal to reach more than one billion people by 2019 with the message Swimming Lessons Save Lives™. The problem is life-threatening for children: According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning remains the leading cause of unintended injury-related death for U.S. children ages 1-4, and the second leading cause for children under 14. Drowning is an even greater threat in other countries around the world.

Many lack basic swimming skills: In 2014, a survey completed by the American Red Cross found more than half of all Americans (54 percent) either can’t swim or don’t have all of the basic swimming skills.

Parents don’t recognize that supervision is key: According to a 2016 Safe Kids Worldwide report, despite the fact that lack of supervision played a role in the majority of drowning deaths, less than half of parents (49 percent) indicate they remain within arms’ reach of their child in the water.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that nearly 400 children under the age of 15 drown in a pool or spa each year, with 75 percent of those incidents involving children younger than 5.

In the U.S., more drowning and near-drowning accidents take place in June than any other month of the year. The July 4th holiday also traditionally sees an increase in drowning accidents compared to an average week during the rest of the summer.

Since its inception, more than 195,000 children and adults have participated in World’s Largest Swim Lessons. We hope to see you at Water Saftey Day! 

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