YMCA of Orange County Preparing to Set Fifth Straight World Record

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - June 13, 2014 - PRLog -- Orange County, CA--On Friday, June 20th, 2014, tens of thousands of participants from hundreds of locations around the globe are teaming up to help prevent childhood drowning by spreading the word Swimming Lessons Save Lives™ at the kickoff to the first day of summer. The international team, made up primarily of kids, will unite for the fifth year in a row to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest swimming lesson ever conducted. The global record attempt for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ (WLSL), will take place at 3 pm GMT (11am ET, 8 am PT.)

Team WLSL holds the current Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous swimming lesson, which stands at 32,450 participants hosted by 432 facilities in 13 countries. The 2013 record saw a 30 percent increase over the previous year's record of 24,873 and generated more than 50 million media impressions, spreading the event’s important message to hundreds of thousands of families.

Tragically, drowning remains the leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children ages 1-5, and the second leading cause of accidental death for children under 14.  Research shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children aged 1 to 4, yet many kids do not receive formal swimming or water safety training.

The YMCA of Orange County will be serving as an official Host Location Facility for the WLSL 2014 event at 4 of their locations on June 20th:

Fullerton Family YMCA

(714) 879-9622 - 2000 Youth Way, Fullerton, CA 92835

Newport-Mesa Family YMCA

(949) 642-9990 - 2300 University Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660

Mission Viejo Family YMCA

(949) 859-9622 - 27341 Trabuco Circle, Mission Viejo, CA 92692

Santa Ana Family YMCA

(714) 444-4004 - 2100 W Alton Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92704

Parents are invited to learn more about this phenomenal event by visiting WLSL.org.

About The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™

The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson™ was created as a platform to help aquatic facilities and the many different regional, national and international water safety organizations work together to communicate the fundamental importance of teaching children to swim. Visit www.wlsl.org to learn more.