To save lives of Black children, Eagle Academy is teaching them to swim

WASHINGTON — Summer is just around the corner and tons of Washingtonians are headed to beaches and pools. But here's a number to think about: nearly two-thirds of Black children in America cannot swim, according to a YMCA study. 

One D.C. elementary school is working to change that, and help African American kids safely take the plunge.

At Eagle Academy in Congress Heights, every single child gets a lesson in the pool twice a week.

"Woah, that pool is big -- giant!" 7-year-old Khole King shouted as she prepared to climb in.

"Hold onto the rail. Slowly. Slowly," her water safety instructor, Trevon Epps, told her and 8-year-old Christopher Gamble as they gingerly climbed down the steps.

 "I'm scared!" Khole said as Epps encouraged her to put her nose underwater and blow bubbles.

The CDC says every day in America, there are about 10 accidental drownings. But Black children are dying at three times the rate of white children.

"There seem to be a lot of children of color that just have not been exposed to swim lessons or even recreational pools," said Eagle Academy Principal Aaron LeCoin. 

The Y survey blames exclusion, institutional racism and inherited fear of drowning for the disproportionate numbers.

But there's nothing like a patient instructor to flip fear into fun. A few minutes in Khole and Christopher are screaming, laughing and splashing water on Epps.

Epps has his own cautionary tale of how he learned to swim at six. 

"I did the unthinkable -- I jumped in," he said of leaping into the deep end of a pool in front of a lifeguard. "I did not drown. I was saved. And at that moment, I knew I wanted to be a lifeguard." 

But the story very easily could have turned out differently. And Eagle Academy is convinced its swim lessons will save lives.

"Now [students] are able to go home and brag to their families, 'Hey! I know how to swim,' even brag to their parents who may also not know how to swim," LeCoin said.

Eagle Academy believes it's one of the only public charter elementary schools east of the Mississippi River offering swim lessons to every student.

"We're not just swim coaches, we're life coaches," said instructor said Michael Giles. "Because the skills we're teaching them here can be applied universally. We're teaching them dedication, confidence, practice makes perfect. We're making not just better students and better swimmers, but people. And better people make a better community."