To Prevent Tragedy, Stamford Children Learn to Swim

Children around Stamford on Friday will wrap up a week of free swimming lessons that were used as a launching point to promote swimming safety, awareness and survival skills. 

The program grew into existence following the June loss of 12-year-old Rashad Gross, a Stamford boy who drowned in the waters between Holly Pond and Long Island Sound. Gross, a Turn of River Middle School student, didn't know how to swim. Following his death, Stamford Public Schools Superintendent Winifred Hamilton knew she wanted to take some preventative action. 

"It was such an awful day last day of school, and it's one that's supposed to be so happy for students," Hamilton said. "There's never any good enough reason for a child to die. I have a background in swimming and lifeguarding, and there are so many children in this waterfront community that don't swim."

The appropriately-titled Stamford Swims in Memory of Rashad Gross week-long event took place at the Yerwood Center, YMCA and Chelsea Piers Connecticut. It was made possible, in part, through sponsorships from around the community, including GE, Stamford Achieves and Dr. Winnie Hamilton herself. 

"Dr. Hamilton came to me and said she wanted to make an effort to make sure as many children knew how to swim as possible," said Eugene Campbell, Executive Director of the Yerwood Center. "we had more than 200 kids who were non-swimmers coming to learn for their first time during the program. These are not to turn you into an olympic swimmer, but to give kids a strong basis for water and swimming safety."

Kids were in the pool Thursday using paddle boards and floatation devices while they practiced getting used to being in an aquatic environment and swimming in waters where they couldn't touch the ground.

"Mr. Gross and other students have been lost because of a lack of understanding of the impact of water," Campbell said. "We want to teach kids how to be safe, help them learn what depths are. These lessons are to teach kids on the chance they unexpectedly find themselves in water, they can identify how to get back to safety. We want to help bring awareness to how important that is."

Kaitlyn Smith, a 7("and-a-half")-year-old second grader attended lessons Monday and Thursday. She also attended the Yerwood Center's summer camp and her enthusiasm and confidence were evident. She was asked if she could now handle the water better than before the lessons.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I can swim all the way to the deep end now!"

Hamilton said she hopes the funding the program was able to find will continue to grow so that Stamford Swims becomes a regular staple in helping children in the community learn water safety. 

"It was so successful centers had to turn people away from the classes," Hamilton said. "We're hopeful this can become an annual event thanks to the memorial fund for Rashad Gross. We're also hoping we can continue these lessons maybe in February for new or continuing participants with multiple sessions each day. The community has really embraced it and, if we can prevent a situation where even a single child is found in a situation and change that they don't know how to swim, then this will have been a success."