The Red Cross wants to help parents, caregivers and kids
to learn and share water safety knowledge and skills together.
If your child isn't able to take formal swim lessons right now,
you can still help them learn to be safer around backyard pools, ponds or other natural bodies of water.
*Commodore Wilbert E. Longfellow started the Red Cross Lifesaving Corps in 1914 to train volunteers in the methods of lifesaving and resuscitation. His next step was to provide large-scale instruction in swimming. The commodore’s teaching philosophy was to “entertain the public hugely while educating them gently.” He did just that. In tribute to Commodore Longfellow, who was known as the “amiable whale,” the mascot for water safety education is named Longfellow.