MDI YMCA to provide free swim lessons to 5-year-olds in the area

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Parents of five-year-olds in the Bar Harbor-area are getting a chance to get free swim lessons for their little ones.

Starting Jan. 1, the MDI YMCA will offer free swim lessons for those who fit the requirements.

You must be a resident of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, Southwest Harbor, Tremont and the surrounding islands of MDI.

There will be a total of seven sessions.

They hope to expand the free lessons to seven-year-olds, too.

Directors with the YMCA say the program is a way to help kids be confident in the water while understanding swimming safety at a young age.

”Our big idea for 2023 is to give every five-year-old on the island a free session of swim lessons. We’re the only indoor pool on the island. We’re surrounded by water. A lot of these kids recreate and will work on the water when they grow up. And so we want to make sure they know how to be safe around water,” Maegan Haney, Director of Marketing.

“They’ll gain self confidence, a lot of self confidence, they’re going to gain comfort in the water. They’re going to gain respect for the water in the fact that they will not challenge getting into water that they don’t know anything. About without either lifeguard or parent approval,” said Ed Lower, Aquatics Director.

If you’d like to sign up for a session, you can register here.

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