Kiwanis and Swim Strong Partner Up to Save Lives

By Kami-Leigh Agard

Summer is officially less than a month away, however, with Memorial Day Weekend upon us, NYC beaches will be open to the public this Saturday, May 24, and thus a kickoff to a fear Rockaway locals know well—drownings. However, through steadfast fundraising—Kiwanis of the Rockaways banded to change that narrative around by partnering with Swim Strong Foundation to provide free swimming lessons this year to 24 local children through a collaborative grant-funded initiative. And according to Swim Strong founder and executive director Shawn Slevin, “there’s plenty of opportunity do more,” not just for children, but adults.

With the Rockaways surrounded by 17 miles of beach and 35 miles of water, water safety is not just a concern—it’s a necessity. And when Slevin approached Community Board 14 for a letter of support for their Riptide Simulator (a video game simulation to teach beachgoers the hazards of rip currents), for CB14 Chairwoman Dolores Orr, a lifelong Rockaway Beach resident, who also serves on the board of Rockaway Kiwanis, supporting Swim Strong’s initiative was an obvious start to troubleshoot a longstanding problem.

Orr said, “My belief is that every child should know how to swim, and for Kiwanis to help organizations like Swim Strong, we made it a top priority.”

Orr’s journey with Kiwanis of the Rockaways existed before Hurricane Sandy.

She shared, “When Sandy came, everyone was in a state of rebuilding, and we sort of fell apart. However, Jeanette Garramone, vice president of the present Rockaway Kiwanis, met someone from another Kiwanis club in Queens, and wanted to bring it back. She knew I was a member of the former club, and fast forward to 2025, here we are. Technically in order to join, Kiwanis International mandates that you have to be nominated by an existing member. However, our group just rebuilt and I’m proud to see how diverse our members are—from Far Rockaway to Neponsit, and Broad Channel. When we started fundraising, we discussed who we should donate to. Kiwanis is about supporting children, and with Swim Strong’s swimming lessons and water safety initiatives, we decided that one of our top goals was providing scholarships for swimming lessons to kids who wouldn’t be able to afford lessons.”

Kiwanis’ swimming scholarships are anonymous. Orr said, “We never meet the children, and it should be that way. The children should think that their parents were able to give them the lessons. So, supporting children with Swim Strong has been our top project. In the past two years, we’ve supported 65 children.”

Living on the peninsula for three decades, for Belle Harbor resident and Kiwanis member Kyle Meyer, also publisher of Belle Harbor Neponsit Living, diving in to preventing drownings is a passion.

“Whether it’s locals or people just down for the day (DFDs), there are so many who don’t know how to swim, much less find their way in the ocean. That made me feel terrible, and it hurts my heart. Sometimes it’s the Far Rock kids who just don’t know how to swim. If there’s something I can do to help, I was definitely in,” Meyer said.

So, Meyer has been volunteering, and found that even in Broad Channel, many don’t know how to swim.

He said, “Living in Broad Channel is living on the water, whether you have a boat or any watercraft, yet so many don’t know how to swim. And so, we don’t only have kids. We have adults that come in to learn how to swim, and they’re making good progress, which as an adult, I think is pretty brave.”

For Slevin, starting Swim Strong harkens back to when she was “a new drowning victim at age five. It was so traumatizing that I wouldn’t go near the water for four years. Finally, my father coaxed me back in, and within six months, I was competing on a swimming team with my local parish,” Slevin said.

Though, initially, she wasn’t a great swimmer, it was a start to her relationship, love and respect for water, leading her to competitive swimming as an athlete and even coaching.

Slevin said, “Swimming and aquatics have been a major part of my life, and I was a competitive coach for 40 years. I swam competitively. I coached competitively. I scuba dive. I sail. I’m so attached to the water. Had I not gone back in after that incident, my life would have been very different. So, yes, this is very personal to me. I see the benefits.

“However, I also understand Mother Nature, who we must respect, and particularly the changes that are coming to us. It’s not enough to just look out the window and see it’s a beautiful, hot day and think we’re gonna go to the beach. We need to know not only the temperature out our window, but what are the weather conditions happening in the Caribbean because those storms affect the rip currents here on our beaches.”

Swim Strong celebrates 19 years and 111,600 and counting lives saved, not just with swim lessons for all ages at Far Rockaway High School and other schools,  but with water safety programs, CPR training, and even a “Know Before You Go,” essential water education series for a variety of ages that can be delivered remotely, in-person or even hybrid through Zoom or Google Classroom.

As Meyer attested, “If you’re going to be in the water, you owe it to yourself, to your children, to learn how to swim, even just for in case of an emergency. We have to be so much better educated about our climate and our environment more than ever before, because the changes are coming in such a way, and we need to be equipped for what comes.”

Kiwanis of the Rockaways is a member of Kiwanis International, a global service organization founded in 1915, composed of local clubs of volunteers who work to improve communities and the lives of children. While Kiwanis is an international network of like-minded members, Rockaway Kiwanis’ footprint is from Breezy Point to Far Rockaway and Broad Channel. They are all volunteers looking to help make a positive difference in the lives of both children and adults in the community. The club meets every third Thursday of the month, 7 p.m. at Rogers Pub (203 Beach 116th Street).

Swim Strong Foundation’s mission is to save and change lives through water safety education and teaching swimming skills. Since 2007, they’ve provided 10,000 plus people with swim lessons and more than $1M in free swim lessons to families so they can learn water safety and swimming skills. For more info, and to donate, visit: www.swimstrongfoundation.org or Swim Strong Foundation on Facebook/Instagram.