BROOKLYN, NY — Inclusive Community Wellness (ICW), the Brooklyn-based aquatics and wellness nonprofit, celebrated the culmination of its summer learn-to-swim program on Friday, August 14th poolside at the Brooklyn College West Quad Center. This summer, ICW brought results-oriented swim instruction to more than 100 children and adults with program funding from Council Member Farah Louis, and support from the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). The culmination event provided the opportunity to recognize the valuable partnership from our host Brooklyn College, without whom our program would not have been possible. It’s a collective effort to build safer water access and more wellness opportunities for all New Yorkers, and ICW is grateful for everyone’s help. The event concluded with a poolside presentation and remarks from:
Michael Randazzo, ICW Executive Director
“This is year three of ICW's summer program and we're grateful to all who participated.
Special thank you to Council Member Farah Lewis, who has been a bedrock for us for the three years that we’ve been running this program by providing funding…. Also Julie Menin, speaker of the city council helped with tremendous financial backing from the city council last year. We're tremendously grateful. Thank you Dr. (Marcus) Richardson, the Brooklyn College pool is one of the best pools in New York City.
There's no question that swimming is not just an athletic activity. You can literally save your life or somebody else’s life. We also have to acknowledge that not everyone gets this opportunity. The challenge is to get to those who do need it in the most fortuitous circumstances as came out again unfortunately, someone drowned this weekend in the Rockaways. Even if it's one or two or three people a summer – it’s too many.
A lot of what we look at and we advocate for is, how can we get you and your children in the water, but also can we get teenagers, high school students, get them in the water, get them to be safe, get them to become lifeguards, get them to be part of the New York City aquatic culture so that they can give back. They can become Red Cross certified lifeguards, or they become New York City Parks Department lifeguards, and protect the very pools and beaches that are needed to be protected. ”
Daniel Heredia, Communications and Policy Liaison, 45th Council District
”This is what community partnerships can do. It can begin with something as fundamental as learning to swim and open the door to confidence, safety, opportunity and a lifelong connection to a place like Brooklyn College.”
Dr. Marcus Richardson, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, CUNY Brooklyn College
"We're a landlocked community. It's far from the beach but when our families do go out to the beach and go to other parts of the city, we need to make sure our kids know how to swim because we need to reverse the trend [of young people drowning]."
Otis Alves, Head Swim Instructor, ICW
”A lot of people tell me that they never thought they would doing this or they thought they would never be in the deep water and at the end of the session, they’re deep-water swimming and diving.”
Deon Hanks, parent with two students in the program
”If you’re afraid of the deep end, you could become afraid of the deep end of all other aspects of your life. Overcoming that fear and getting encouragement from the other teachers to try that is of great benefit. The discipline that comes out of swimming can really enable young people to have that discipline later on in their future.”