Drowning is the leading cause of death for children between 1 and 4 years old, and the second-leading cause of death, after motor vehicle crashes, of children ages 5 to 14, federal data show.
Those deaths are preventable and often happen because the victim didn’t know how to swim.
That is a major reason why New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced a plan to invest tens of millions of dollars in pool construction, swimming instruction and lifeguard training to boost safe access to the water in New York.
The governor said this would be the largest investment in pool construction in the state since the New Deal.
“We’ve lost too many young people. There have been too many stories, especially here in the city, of young people who did not know how to swim. They go off one day and never come home. And these families are just absolutely ripped apart,” Hochul said at a community center in Manhattan, her fourth event this week previewing a theme of Tuesday’s State of the State address.
Hochul said she will propose in Tuesday’s State of the State address a half-dozen initiatives intended to improve infant and maternal mortality rates in the state.
In addition to water safety, the governor said, swimming provides recreation and physical fitness, and…
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