AFFTON, Mo. – Following the tragic drowning death of a classmate in 2016, students on the women’s swim team at Lutheran High School South are joining together to try and prevent it from happening again.
Saturday was the first day of swim lessons for 50 refugee children.
“The girls had this friend die, they wanted to reach out to refugees that didn’t know how to swim and teach them to make sure they were able to work in the pool and feel comfortable, because in the United States there’s water everywhere,” said Lutheran South Swim Coach Andrew Phillips.
The swim team is partnering with Christian Friends of New Americans (CFNA), a local nonprofit that helps immigrants and refugees assimilate to American life.
“Many families take for granted that their kids can go to the local ‘Y’ and swim or join a swimming club, or maybe learn at school,” said Pastor Stanish Stanley with CFNA. “But many of these refugee kids don’t get those opportunities.”
This is the second year that the swim team is giving the free swim lessons at the Afton High School, where the swim team practices. The project was inspired by the passing of Henry Manu, a Lutheran South student who drowned after stepping into the Meramec River.
Manu was an immigrant from Liberia and did not know how to swim.
“You don’t really hear about drowning that much and then someone we know drowned. It really motivated us to help these kids learn how to swim so it doesn’t happen to them too,” said student swim instructor Lauren Chong.
The goal of the Lutheran South program is to teach basic life-saving skills, such as floating and treading water.
“They get an opportunity to learn a very important life-saving skill and that’s been a blessing for them,” said Stanley.
The lessons will continue for a total of four weeks.
