Lodi Swim Club to focus on kids at Water Safety Day

Although private swim instructor Jannae Stafford remembers growing up in Lodi with plenty of swimming pools open during the summer, she said that she has noticed fewer opportunities for children to learn how to swim in the past few years.

“I was sitting at Lodi Lake with my dog last summer, watching kids who didn’t know how to swim going out past their chests in the water. That really drove it home for me how much they need opportunities to learn how to swim,” Stafford said.

Stafford worked with the Lodi Swim Club and Partners for International Cooperation to organize Water Safety Day, she said, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 19 at Tokay High School’s pool, 1111 W. Century Blvd., Lodi.

Volunteers from the Lodi Swim Club will provide free group swimming lessons for guests ages 5 and older, Stafford said, along with exercises parents can do with children younger than 5 in a bathtub or small plastic pool.

“The hardest group to get are preteens and teens. Those are the ones we really want to teach now, while we have a chance,” Stafford said.

Water Safety Day will also feature a free swim hour, food, vendors, and a raffle to win free swim lessons, Stafford said, although they are still

“I was sitting at Lodi Lake with my dog last summer, watching kids who didn’t know how to swim going out past their chests in the water. That really drove it home for me how much they need opportunities to learn how to swim.” JANNAE STAFFORD, PRIVATE SWIM INSTRUCTOR

asking for donations of new or gentlyused life vests.

“Headwaters Kayaks will demonstrate how to fit life jackets, and we hope to send a good number of people home with properly fitting life jackets,” Stafford said.

PIC founder Natalie Bowman secured a grant from the Lodi Chamber of Commerce’s Asset-Based Community Development Love Your Block program, she said, to help fund Stafford’s event and make it accessible to residents of Lodi’s east side.

“(Stafford is) an awesome coach and swim instructor, she actually taught me how to swim. This is definitely her brainchild, and she’s doing an awesome job with it. There are already a lot of us who are going to be there, but we’re always looking for more people to come help out and have fun with us,” Bowman said.