Make a Safe Splash this Summer: Largest Franchisor of Swim Schools Brings Greater Awareness to Drowning Prevention Amid National Water Safety Month

DENVER, Colorado – In honor of National Water Safety Month (May), Streamline Brands, the industry's largest franchisor and operator of swim schools, widely known for SafeSplash Swim School, has launched an educational campaign to bring greater awareness to water safety and drowning prevention.

The family of brands boasts over 250 swim schools across the country, each encouraged to support various nonprofit organizations – via fundraising, swim lesson donations, and more – under the company’s philanthropic umbrella, Ripples to Waves®. This year, Streamline Brands has committed to matching up to $100,000 to the school’s nonprofit partners to make the greatest local market impact.

Supporting this year’s National Water Safety educational push is five-time Olympic Gold Medalist and 11x World Champion, Missy Franklin, who seized the opportunity to remind everyone that swimming is an invaluable life-saving skill. Collectively, with her support, Streamline Brands aims to help combat the childhood drowning epidemic.

“Drowning is truly an epidemic in this country as it is the leading cause of unintentional death among children under four,” said Franklin. “It is our goal to educate parents and guardians around the world that swim lessons are the greatest thing you can do to help reduce this risk.”

With summer around the corner, now is the time to prioritize water safety. For a lot of people, summer means water activities – whether it’s the pool, the reservoir, the beach, or the lake. Multiple strategies are needed to prevent drownings and layers of protection are the best way to enjoy the water, safely.

7 Simple Water Safety Tips to Review as a Family Ahead of the Summer Season:

1. Enroll Your Child in Swim Lessons: Swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88%. Children will learn essential skills such as keeping their head above water, knowing how to roll on their backs if they feel endangered, properly getting in and out of the pool, etc.
2. Use Visual Cues to Educate on Water Safety Measures: Be sure to review water safety rules together as a family. Consider using pictures or symbols to help your child understand safety rules – you might consider hanging up the rules in your house.
3. Secure Your Home Regardless of Your Child’s Age: One-sided fences or barriers are helpful, but there should not be an option to get around. Four-sided fences with safety latches are the best way to prevent accidental falls into the water. You might also consider installing an alarm to alert adults of opening doors and gates.
4. Store Toys in Designated Area: Keeping toys in a body of water when not in use can lead to a dangerous situation as children may want to reach for them when adults aren’t around. Instead, have a designated bin or basket outside of the pool area.
5. Seek Out Proper Swimwear: Kids should wear brightly colored swimwear in water so they are more easily seen by parents and/or lifeguards. Avoid colors such as shades of blue. Additionally, kids should wear appropriately fitting swimwear. Swimwear that is too big can cause extra weight and cause swimmers to tire out faster which can lead to an incident. 
6. Assign a Water Watcher: Make sure that an adult is designated to watch the water and don’t assume that somebody is watching. Parents need to stay within an arm’s reach of non-swimmers. Life vests are important, but never use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision. Using air-filled swimming aids can give parents and children a false sense of security.
7. Never Swim Alone: No matter how seasoned of a swimmer you are, always swim with a buddy. Even at a public or lifeguarded beach, use the buddy system.

“By raising awareness for water safety, we can combat the childhood drowning epidemic and help families enjoy a safer and fun-filled summer ahead,” said Laurie Abplanalp, SVP, Operations of Streamline Brands. “Parents need to take action now – the greatest protector against childhood drowning is getting swim lessons to help kids and their ability to feel comfortable in and around the water.”

There are several brands that offer learn-to-swim programming, but there is only one brand family that couples learn-to-swim with competitive lesson analysis for kids and adults – insert Streamline Brands, home to SafeSplash Swim School, Saf-T-Swim, Swimtastic Swim School, SwimLabs Swim School, Miller Swim School, AquaSafe, AquaKids and Ripples Swim School. SafeSplash is the largest swim school in the portfolio, spanning nearly 150 locations across the country. Programs are available for all ages – 6 months to adults – and all skill levels – ranging from the fundamentals of water safety to competitive instruction – with the goal of developing confident, efficient swimmers.

At SafeSplash, you can truly progress from Bubbles to Butterfly®, meaning you start out by learning the basics of water safety and swimming with proper technique from the start, and progress to Olympian-level swimming. Lessons are offered year-round in a family-friendly setting, with small class sizes (no larger than four students to one instructor) and private/semi-private lessons, in warm water pools with a state-of-the-art water purification system, plus flexible schedules for busy families.

For more information on Streamline Brands and its portfolio of swim schools, please visit https://www.streamlinebrands.com/

About Streamline Brands®

Streamline Brands is the industry's largest franchisor and operator of swim schools. Streamline Brands and its franchisees operate schools in 34 states today under multiple brands: SafeSplash Swim School, Saf-T-Swim, Swimtastic Swim School, SwimLabs Swim School, Miller Swim School, AquaKids Swim School, AquaSafe Swim School and Ripples Swim School. The company was formed in 2005 and has been growing ever since through organic growth and acquisitions. Today, there are more than 250 schools open or scheduled to be open across the country. Streamline, a portfolio company of Youth Enrichment Brands, is majority owned by Roark Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Atlanta. For more information about Streamline Brands or to learn about franchising opportunities with the company, please visit www.streamlinebrands.com.

About SafeSplash® Swim School

SafeSplash Swim School provides a premium, warm water learn-to-swim program throughout the U.S. that uses a proven, proprietary curriculum in a small, personal class to positively teach children and adults alike safety skills and confidence in the water that they will use throughout their lives. After opening its first school in 2006 just south of Denver, the company has grown to 147 locations across 34 U.S. states. Franchise development rights are available for SafeSplash schools in areas throughout the globe. For more information about SafeSplash® or to learn about franchising opportunities with the company, please visit the website or “like” SafeSplash on Facebook, or follow on Twitter or Instagram.

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