Swimming

Pick up the newspaper on the hottest day of the year, and you’re bound to see a picture of kids splashing happily in the water from an open fire hydrant. It’s a quintessential New York experience, and a memory that many of us cherish. But for too many urban youth, this is the closest they get to water sports.

The simple truth is that many of these children never learn to swim because they have very few opportunities to learn. Pools are not easily accessible, and lakes are too far away. At The Children’s Aid Society, we believe these factors should not stop a child from learning an essential skill and enjoying the ultimate in summer fun.

At our Wagon Road and William Osborne Day Camps, children from inner-city neighborhoods learn basic and advanced swimming skills from Red Cross-certified instructors. For youth who develop a passion for the sport of swimming, the heated pool at The Dunlevy Milbank Center plays host to the Milbank Stingrays Swim Team, as well as a scuba diving certification program.

Children in wheelchairs may also want to get in the swim, and the accessible pool at our Wagon Road Camp is a real treat for our disabled campers during respite camp sessions each summer.

Our swim programs are yet another way Children’s Aid is a magnet for community youth. By offering an opportunity that is hard to find elsewhere, we are providing children with a fun activity that serves as a gateway to our many other services.

For more information about swimming at Dunlevy Milbank's pool, please call (212) 996-1716.
For more information about swimming at camp, please call
(212) 949-4925.