More than 100 local children are learning how to swim for free thanks to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and The ZAC Foundation.
The children will spend the week learning ABCDs of swim safety at the Northwest Washington center.
The lessons are the mission of The ZAC Foundation, which travels the country to teach young swimmers for free.
"My son Zachary was 6 years old, and he was actually a great swimmer. The cover became loose on the drain in our own backyard pool, and his arm became stuck," The ZAC Foundation founder Karen Cohn said.
Karen and her husband, Brian, co-founded The ZAC Foundation in 2008 in Zachary's honor.
"Just to have the opportunity to teach other families and children how to be safe so that they dont endure the loss of a child," Karen added.
More than 200 children across the country younger than 15 have drowned this year; seven of the deaths have been in the D.C. region, the Consumer Product and Safety Commission reports. The numbers are significantly higher for minorities.
Students at the swim camp will also get to take home a swim safety book written by the Cohns called, "The Polar Bear Who Couldn't, Wouldn't Swim."
