Children in San Diego's low-income neighborhoods tend to do worse on basic swim tests than children in more affluent neighborhoods. The city is working to change that.
Fourth grader Andrea Hernandez waves to the KPBS camera at her swim lesson at the City Heights public pool on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
“It's always like, ‘I can't do it! I can't do it! I’m gonna fall in the water!,’” he said. “Before the lessons, I could only stand in the water. If it was too deep, I’d just sink.”Now, in his eighth half-hour swimming class, he can front float, black float, and “pancake” — flipping between the two — life-saving water skills.The city has long offered free swimming lessons, but this year they’re pushing to offer even more in low-income neighborhoods.
“Swimming lessons should not be perceived as something that's a privilege,” Carranza said. “It should be perceived as something that is a necessity. And everyone should have a right to have access to it. Misael Chinchilla Coronado took the city’s swimming lessons at the City Heights pool in elementary school. Sixteen years later, he’s teaching them.
“They're learning how to swim, but they're having a really good time. And they really need that,” she said.“Kids are still afraid to go out and do things since COVID,” she said. “I still have kids that are still wearing masks, and they're still really afraid to even take them off.”
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