A Record Swim: Shaw Park Gives Free Lessons as Part of Guinness Attempt

Six-year-old Ava Hagen and her sister 4-year-old Addie kicked off a great summer with a record-breaking event. Their mom Michelle took the girls to to be part of the group for the largest swim lesson in the world. Ava attends Reed School in Ladue and Addie goes to preschool. The family lives in Richmond Heights.

The local effort was part of a worldwide gathering of new swimmers  to break the Guinness World Record. The old record was 5,000 swimmers at pools spread across several continents.  Event organizers estimate that 25,000 youngsters will gather this time, easily shattering the record.

Among other attendees were 3-year-old Benjamin Durrant of the City of St. Louis,  who came to the pool with his mom Emily. Benjamin takes swim lessons, so this wasn’t all new to him. Reuben Rosas, 6, of Clayton came with his mom Wuician. He goes to Meramec Elementary School. The family just moved from Massachusetts.

Druva Riswadkep, 9, his 7-year-old brother Rohan and 10-year-old Ezra Dryer came from University City to try the swimming lessons. The trio attend Flynn Park Elementary in University City.

Shaw Park, which has been recognized as one of the most outstanding aquatic centers in the country, is happy to play host to this record-breaking event.

“We feel it is important for children to learn water safety and to be able to swim properly,” said Chris Cholley, assistant aquatic supervisor for the parks and recreation department and organizer of this annual event.

Rainy skies and cooler temperatures kept attendance down. Thirty youngsters were registered, and about a dozen braved the elements to be part of the group.

First, the children were given stroke evaluations by nine instructors. Then, they broke into groups for about an hour.

A number of youngsters enrolled in the Shaw Park summer water polo camp stuck around and had fun, joining in with the group.

For information check out the event website.