For many, taking a dip in a lake or a pool is a rite of summer. But not everyone can do that safely.
"I love the water, but I've always had that fear of really not knowing how to swim," said Brandy Solomon of Rochester.
At the age of 38, Solomon is learning to swim for the first time. When the YMCA of Greater Rochester offered free swim lessons this summer, she enrolled right away.
Those slots filled up quickly, according to the Y's aquatic director, Omar Hidalgo-Rojas.
"It's a life-saving school to have. You hear about drownings every year," he said.
Even a skilled swimmer can drown. But more than half of adults in the United States have never taken a swimming lesson, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes 2 in 3 Black adults and 3 in 4 Hispanic adults.
Some of that can be attributed to a "generational curse," Hidalgo-Rojas said.
"We have a lot of parents or families who come in and say their family members don't know how to swim. So, because of that, they weren't able to learn how to swim," he said.
Societal and cultural factors can also discourage some people from learning, even when lessons are available. Others might have a friend or family member who drowned and they're afraid to go near the water.
According to the CDC, accidental drowning deaths are on the rise — claiming more than 4,500 lives each year between 2020 and 2022, after decades of declining numbers.
Solomon's explanation for missing out on swimming lessons earlier in life is less ominous.
"I don't want to use my hair as an excuse, but I can remember being in high school, and I didn't really want to get my hair wet, because I didn't want to have to go to class after I just got out of the pool with my hair all funky," she said.
It turns out the solution was simple. On a recent Friday at the Maplewood Family YMCA, Solomon wore a bathing cap large enough to cover her long braids, piled high on her head.
With a foam noodle wrapped around her torso, she stepped into the pool and worked on her floating skills.
"It's never too late to learn," Hidalgo-Rojas said.
