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80 California Pools Participating in the World's Largest Swimming Lesson

By Clarissa Wei
June 6, 2013
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Photo: WLSL/ World's Largest Swimming Lesson at Disney's Typhoon on June 14, 2011 in Lake Buena Vista

More than six dozen California pools are on deck to help smash a Guinness World Record later this month.

The goal: to host simultaneous swimming lessons around the world and break the current world count of 24,873 participants. To qualify for the 2013 record, all sessions will be held on Tuesday, June 18 at 8 a.m. PST. The event is hosted by World's Largest Swimming Lesson, a non-profit dedicated to help raise awareness on drowning.

In 2012, 771 facilities around the world participated, 61 of which were from California. 875 facilities are currently signed up for the 2013 event, including 80 California facilities, according to a spokesperson. Though registration has ended, they "would rather not turn anyone away who wants to participate." Host facilities must have a minimum of 25 participants to qualify.

All pools will be teaching the same provided curriculum at the same time for the duration of the 30-minute lesson. Participating Southern California locations include Palmdale, San Diego, Burbank, Monrovia, Studio City, Riverside, Pasadena, Torrance, Irvine, El Centro, Alhambra, and Corona.

Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death of children ages 1-14. Research shows that if a child doesn't learn to swim before the 3rd grade, they likely never will.

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