A University of Arizona program that began offering free swim lessons in 2023 to African American children with limited access to pools and swim instruction has expanded to include teens and adults. 

The program, From Fear to Freedom: Dive into Opportunity – a partnership between the African American Museum of Southern Arizona and U of A Aquatics – provides Tucson community members with free certified swim instruction, complete with lessons, swimsuits, goggles, towels, flip-flops, sunscreen and, more recently, swim caps.

Registration is open. Use the discount code: AAMSAZ2026.

The program has grown due to demand, museum director Nikieia Johnson said.

"Many adults, especially individuals in their 60s and 70s, started reaching out in mass, saying that they never had a chance to learn how to swim and would like to learn how," she said. "This was part of our reasoning for adding the adult classes, because there was such a demand for it being voiced throughout the community. They want to get it done, especially now that they have grandchildren to entertain."

Research published in Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics shows that formal swim lessons are associated with an 88% reduction in the risk of drowning for children between 1 and 4 years old – a statistic that helped inspire the beginnings of the swim program to address a grim reality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that African American children between the ages of 10 and 14 drown in swimming pools at rates 7.6 times higher than white children nationally, and African American adults under age 30 drown at rates 1.5 times higher than white adults. 

Image

Museum co-founder Beverely Elliott said these numbers can be traced to pre-Civil Rights Act segregation, when African Americans had limited access to pools or swimming lessons.

"Children of color were not allowed to swim back in the day, so these statistics have just carried through generations," Elliott said. "We're now left with this huge gap where today's Black adults and their parents never had the chance to learn to swim, and that also translates to their children."

This gap carries particular weight in Arizona, where pools are woven into the fabric of everyday life as summer temperatures push past 100 degrees. With summer fast approaching, individuals of all ages can now take a free course at any level at the U of A. While the program was initially designed to offer lessons to African American children in the community, it is open to anyone who would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn to swim. 

"No child or adult should have to drown because they don't have access to basic lessons," Elliott said.

Breaking the surface

The museum first received funding for the program in 2023, with a $5,000 Community Impact grant from OneAZ Community Foundation. Continued funding from local donors keeps the program running. Betsy Bruce, this year's primary donor and Southern Arizona's Philanthropist of the Year, helped fund the adult expansion after parents of young swimmers started asking for classes of their own, according to Elliott.

Within the partnership, the museum essentially breaks the ice for future swimmers, providing free pool supplies for easy integration into the water. The program now provides swim caps, removing a hair-care barrier that has long kept working adults, specifically African American women, out of the pool.

U of A Aquatics oversees the water safety education component. Instruction begins with "water comfortability" training, according to Daniel Hepfer, U of A Campus Recreation's assistant director of aquatic operations. 

"In order to feel confidence in the water, learning to float and maintaining body position are things you must get used to before learning other strokes," he said. "It's the novelty of floating on your back, or front, that people struggle with initially. If folks never got the chance to learn when they were young, it can be especially tough to take that next step to get out of your comfort zone as an adult, so that's what we're here for."

Adult and teen courses run in parallel to youth instruction, covering basic water entry and floating through developing butterfly and breaststroke. Parent-child lessons are also available.

Submerging fears, emerging free

"Enrollment in adult courses has been especially consistent since the program's expansion," Hepfer said, with strong interest from graduate and international students to Tucson locals.

Based on 86 intake survey responses collected and analyzed by Aquatics, 80% identified as community members with no affiliation to the university, confirming the program is reaching well beyond campus. Among first-time lesson-takers, 55% cited cost as the primary reason they had never learned to swim before. Of the adults enrolled, 40% had no swimming ability whatsoever or could only manage with a flotation device. 

Image

A significant portion of families reported having children who were afraid of the water, and many parents themselves were not comfortable assessing pool safety. The museum reports children raised by non-swimming adults are 19% less likely to learn.

"Most of these parents were not swimmers either, so one of the first things we had to address was if your child gets into a pool and you can't swim, don't jump in because you could drown trying to save them," Elliott said. "This is why the program's basic premise is water survival skills so individuals can at least learn how to turn over, float and get to the side of the pool."

Adult participants anticipated extremely positive impacts from the program across confidence, fitness, social connection, stress management and overall wellbeing in their surveys.

Johnson, who says she cannot swim, is planning to enroll herself. Her young son learned through the program first, and she wants to follow his lead.

"I sometimes still avoid the water, or don't do more than four feet, because there's some trauma sitting around being in water and having to build that trust with a person who will teach you how to swim and let go," Johnson said. "After watching my son successfully learn through the program, it's my turn. I want to overcome my fear of the water personally for myself, and at minimum as a parent, I have to ensure I can be there for my child."

Hepfer recalls a grandmother who enrolled alongside her three grandchildren. The oldest, a teenager, started at Level 1, barely able to float unassisted. He moved through the levels so quickly that by the end, instructors were telling him to look for a swim club. The grandmother was finally able to swim with her grandkids, as well.

"It's been really satisfying to see that progression," Hepfer said. "Watching someone climb from Level 1 to Level 4 gives me confidence that the program is working the way that it should."

Elliott recalls a similar story. A teen from Sabino High School came into the program with no swimming experience and left a competitive swimmer, his entire focus shifting toward making his school's swim team. 

"We were just so proud of that young man," Elliott said. "He became so confident in the water, and in such a short amount of time."

A version of this story originally appeared on the Office of Research and Partnerships website.