MESA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Over 40,000 swimmers from 24 different countries joined together to beat a world record.
"We've been doing this for seven, eight years, as long as it's been going because our message is swimming lesson save lives," Lara Whitehead said.
Lara Whitehead with SWIMkids USA says the attempt to break the record is fun, but the main goal of getting the kids in the pool is to save lives.
"They're doing a lot of research on this," she said. "They found that swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning 88 percent in children ages 1-to-4, so now today all over the world, facilities are having a free lesson to draw attention to drowning prevention."
Sharon Huminski knows first-hand that lessons save lives. Her son, Patrick, could have drowned had he not been enrolled.
"Patrick was almost 3 when he fell into our family swimming pool completely clothed," she said. "He'd been coming to class and basically he rolled over into airplane and did elbow, elbow knee to get out of the pool on his own."
Lara says getting the word out on the swimming lessons may help save lives.
"We've already lost six children this year, 14 last year," she said. "There are unnecessary deaths. We need to get the word out that swimming lessons are essential, especially here in the Valley of the Sun.
For information on swimming lessons for your child, go to www.swimkidsaz.com.