JACKSON HEIGHTS — When she was five years old, Shawn Slevin nearly drowned.
“It so traumatized me. I refused to go near the water for four years,” Slevin recalled. But when she was 9, her church, St. Sebastian in Woodside, started a girls’ swim team. She joined and became a competitive swimmer.
Today, many years later, Slevin swims for recreation. Moreover, she enjoys sharing her knowledge of the water with others. Slevin is the founder and executive director of Swim Strong Foundation, an organization founded in 2007 with a mission to teach people how to swim and safely enjoy the water.
That’s what brought her to St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Jackson Heights on Sept. 30, where she presented a program, “Know Before You Go,” focused on swim safety.
Slevin’s audience consisted of students from third to eighth grade, many of whom raised their hands when she asked who among them liked to go swimming.
Her tips included:
- Always swim near a lifeguard
- Never swim alone
- Do not swim after dark
- Be aware of flags on beaches and their meanings: Green (calm conditions), Yellow (moderate surf and currents), and Red (dangerous ocean conditions)
- If caught in a riptide, do not panic. Do not swim against the current. Swim parallel to the shore to escape the current and then swim back to the shore at an angle.
According to Swim Strong Foundation, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children under the age of five in the U.S., and the second leading cause of accidental death in children under age 14.
“This is lifesaving work because water surrounds us and we do not understand the benefits, which are wonderful, but also the dangers,” Slevin explained. We need to know that balance.”
Eighth grader Maleyah Millare, who enjoys swimming with her parents and friends, said she came away with something new after listening to Slevin.
“I learned that water can be a simple but dangerous thing in the world. You don’t know what it does. It’s there, and it can hurt you or your loved ones,” Maleyah said.
Father Christopher Heanue, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Church, said the swim safety lesson was important because it highlighted the strength of Catholic education.
“I just want to keep highlighting the beauty of Catholic education — that it’s not just academics, but it’s the whole the whole body, the spiritual needs, the physical needs, the academic and intellectual needs,” he said.