Four smiling toddlers splashed around and practiced blowing bubbles with a lifeguard at the Glenbrooke Sports Center in East Hartford on Monday — creating a playful backdrop for a serious message.
As summer weather approaches Kim and Stew Leonard of the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation held a press conference to promote pool safety and raise awareness about drowning prevention.
In attendance were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin.
The summer months see a sharp rise in accidental drownings. Nationwide, roughly 1,000 children die each year from accidental drowning. Blumenthal noted the troubling trend and urged parents to be vigilant.
“I can’t repeat it enough. One through four years old, biggest cause of death – drowning. And we are entering the time of maximum danger,” he said.
Blumenthal reminded the audience that drowning can happen in seconds and praised the work of the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation for its efforts to provide swim lessons to underprivileged families.
Stew and Kim Leonard, whose son died in a drowning incident in 1989, have donated more than $6 million to fund swim lessons and water safety programs for Connecticut children over the years. “ Every single drowning is preventable,” Blumenthal said.
The Leonards offered safety tips to Connecticut parents, urging them to be mindful of who is supervising their kids around the pool, stay off their phones, and most importantly, teach their children how to swim.
The foundation donated $5,000 to teach 400 young swimmers at Glenbrooke this summer. The first of these swimmers and their swim teacher jumped into the pool – with their parents watching – shortly after the press conference.
