JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Tomorrow is the official start of summer, and for many people, that means vacation, non-stop grilling in the backyard and hitting the beach.
This morning, Action News Jax was at Jacksonville Beach and learned that Florida’s Department of Children and Family Services gave a news conference stressing the importance of swim safety and supervision when in the water.
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The briefing was at Goldfish swim school in Winter Park, Florida.
This morning, Julianne Pellicer, Jacksonville local and mom to 8-year-old Aiden and 7-year-old Leon, came to Jacksonville Beach to kickstart the beginning of summer. She told Action News Jax that both boys learned how to swim at age 3.
“If they ever get in the water and find themselves in a situation, I want to make sure they can get themselves out,” said Pellicer.
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Learning to swim early something a local swimming school, Swimming Safari, told Action News Jax back in March was a lifesaving lesson. The swim school also said that you can teach children as early as 4 months old how to swim by starting with a few tasks, such as learning how to hold their breath and float on their backs.
However, swimming in the sunshine state can be a danger, especially for younger children. According to DCF, Florida loses more kids under the age of 5 to drownings than any other state in the nation.
“One, I don’t take my eyes off of them, two, if they are in the water, I’m in the water with them and three, they don’t go above their knees. They always stay in pairs,” said Pellicer.
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“So, I don’t go too far and so it doesn’t pull me into the deep,” said Aiden.
Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue’s training and operations officer Max Ervanian said, “It is imperative that swimmers do not go beyond their estimated ability when going into any body of water. If you have children around the water, there must always be at least one adult with the sole task of keeping an eye on the children.”
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