FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida leads the nation in child drownings. We are surrounded by beautiful bodies of water and its why swim safety is more than a story. It’s a priority for us.
This month, Local 10 is launching a new, station-wide campaign called “Swim South Florida.” The campaign will be spearheaded by Local 10 anchor and mom, Nicole Perez. It’s designed to raise awareness and save lives.
This week, Nicole spoke with Casey McGovern, the program manager for the Every Child a Swimmer program.
McGovern’s daughter, Edna Mae, was taken far too soon at 19-months-old.
“She was a gift. Truly the most incredible gift, happy go lucky baby, independent. Not fussy just sweet blue eyes and wispy blond hair that pulled you in. 29 minutes from checking out of Publix a family of 5, to watching my worst nightmare happen it’s a short amount of time,” said McGovern.
McGovern told Nicole it was a normal summer day their family was spending by the pool. She was putting away groceries with her daughter nearby. She said she stepped away from the counter briefly only to come back and not see Edna Mae where she left her.
“My first reaction was to put my eyes on her, room to room, before I see the sliding door ajar. The pool wasn’t on my radar,” said McGovern.
McGovern then spotted Edna Mae in the pool.
“I saw a glimpse of my daughter floating in the pool. My world stopped. I started screaming, jumped in the pool fully clothed and started screaming to God to help,” said McGovern.
The family ended up losing Edna Mae to a drowning in their backyard pool.
“Upon leaving her I made her a promise I would do everything in my power to help other families never experience the same heart attack. This is preventable and yet it continues to happen,” said McGovern.
McGovern then went on to dedicate her life to making sure every child learns how to swim.
McGovern helped pass legislation to provide free swimming lessons to children in the state of Florida.
SB 544, the Swimming Lesson Voucher Program, went into effect on July 1, 2024.
It appropriates $500,000 to the Department of Health to fund the program.
“Every Child a Swimmer is a non-profit that provides learn to swim scholarships to underserved population or low-income families. We do partner with local swim schools proving them a line of credit and families go to partners and get up to 3 months of swim lessons for their child,” said McGovern.
McGovern also passed legislation in Georgia and Arkansas, requiring all schools to share water safety information and provide information for families about local swim lessons.
“I want parents to understand that it happens to a lot of great parents, and I want you to think it can happen to me and what am I going to do to prevent that,” said McGovern.
McGovern wants families to check the water, make a plan and make water safety a part of your daily occurrence.
“I always give the analogy that having pool in backyard or unprotected water without supervision is like having a loaded gun on coffee table. You would never leave a loaded gun on a table with children nearby or in general, why would you leave big body of water or not be educated when you have young children around. It’s the same thing and claims lives just as quickly, " said McGovern.
Last year more than 600 children learned to swim through the program.
While McGovern’s family’s life has forever changed, she said she will never stop fighting.
For more information about the Every Child a Swimmer program, click on this link.
Swim South Florida consists of public service announcements and news stories that will air on Local 10 News and across all our digital platforms.
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