Swimming and Diving Team Does Their Part to Reduce Childhood Drowning

After car crashes, drowning is the second most common cause of accidental death in children ages 5-18-but one that can be preventable.

For the second year, the University of Denver swimming and diving team is stepping up to do their part by participating in the No More Under Swim Safely Series.

The five-day clinic, led by collegiate swimmers, is geared toward Denver area children from ages four years old to 18 years old to prevent drownings and decrease barriers to aquatics. Last year's clinic had nearly 70 swimmers.

"Our team really enjoyed it (last year), and it was a fun way for us to come together in our sport by doing something very different," says head coach Alicia Hicken-Franklin, adding that nearly the whole team signed up to volunteer during the program's first year.

Hicken-Franklin has wanted to offer such a program since she arrived at DU and working with No More Under allows her to do just that.

DU was the first collegiate program in the country, along with CSU Pueblo, to partner with the Seattle-based organization.

This year's clinic will take place at El Pomar Natatorium from Aug. 26 to 30. Members of the No More Under organization reach out to Denver families whose children may be interested in being part in the program.

Kali Metuzals, a senior on the team who participated in the program last year, says the most rewarding experience has been "helping people turn fear into confidence."

"Whether it is seeing the pride on families' faces when their child has learned a new skill or the accomplishment that the participant feels at the end of the program, No More Under is a crucial reminder about how important water safety is and the direct impact we can make on people's lives," Metuzals says.

As a collegiate swimmer who has been in the pool for most of his life, junior Liam Simmons has learned through working with the No More Under program how easy it can be to take the skill of knowing how to swim for granted-but also how important it is for everyone to know.

"There's a lot of people that don't have the privilege to learn how to swim. So, it kind of puts into perspective, for me as a swimmer, that there's people out there not like me, and communities that are really in need of this knowledge," he says.

For Simmons, giving back to the community in this way is what being a DU student-athlete is all about.

"Of course we swim for our school, the people that go to our school and each other, but we represent our city and our communities, and being able to be a group that can represent this through leadership opportunities like the program that we did is really, really important," Simmons says.

"It's showing that we care for our community, showing that we are more than just people that swim for our team."