{"id":110479,"date":"2026-05-31T14:28:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T14:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/free-swim-program-breaks-generational-fear-of-water-for-bayview-families\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T14:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T14:28:38","slug":"free-swim-program-breaks-generational-fear-of-water-for-bayview-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/free-swim-program-breaks-generational-fear-of-water-for-bayview-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Swim Program Breaks Generational Fear of Water for Bayview Families"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Made up of predominantly Black swimmers under the age of 14, the Bayview Safety Swim and Splash program offers free swimming lessons to kids with a Bayview zip code. It began in 2022, after parents in the community expressed interest in having their children learn how to swim through the development of the India Basin Waterfront Park.<\/p>\n

The event, which overlapped with a resource fair for families, featured dozens of children riding on rowboats to celebrate their accomplishments. Tamara Barak Aparton, spokesperson for the Recreation and Parks Department, said that around 100 kids are in each program cohort and, since the program\u2019s creation, more than 1,000 have participated overall.<\/p>\n

Sabrina Hall\u2019s son, Brandon, was one of the young swimmers. She said part of what drew her to the program was ensuring he didn\u2019t continue the negative associations with water.<\/p>\n

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Sabrina Hall (left) and her son Brandon (right) pose for a portrait together at the Bayview Splash Bash in San Francisco on May 30, 2026. (T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of racial disparities in sports and a lot of African Americans are scared of the water, so I said I didn\u2019t want that stigma on my son because I did have it as well,\u201d Hall said. \u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t want him to be in the program, but I said go ahead and push him because this is a new generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said that Brandon hadn\u2019t been exposed to the water before enrolling in the program, in part because of her personal negative associations with swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not going to be a part of that stigma, that count or that statistic,\u201d Hall added.<\/p>\n

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People row their boats at the Bayview Splash Bash in San Francisco on May 30, 2026. (T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dee Hillman, who has three daughters, echoed that experience. Before the program, Hillman said she had trauma associated with the water and her daughters, all of whom are enrolled in Safety Swim and Splash, had minimal exposure to the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was, \u2018I want my kids to have better swim skills than I do,\u2019\u201d Hillman said. \u201cAnd they have completely surpassed my comfortability in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillman\u2019s daughter Sarah expressed a simpler take on the program: It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

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From left, Danielle Hillman, Abigail Hillman, Tyrone Hillman, Dee Hillman, and Sarah Hillman pose for a portrait at the Bayview Splash Bash in San Francisco on May 30, 2026. (T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe do dolphin kicks, elementary backstroke and a lot of other things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bayview resident and father Rhett Burdon said he heard about the event through an email, and that he\u2019s considering enrolling his daughter in the swimming program.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrograms like this are extremely important, especially as you\u2019re focusing on racial and ethnic disparities. It is fairly stark that Black communities in particular don\u2019t have the same level of exposure to the sort of outdoor activities so they can gain the skills necessary not just for survival but to have fun,\u201d Burdon said.<\/p>\n

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Sabrina Hall (left) makes bubbles with her daughter Haleigh-Quin (center) and niece London (right) at the Bayview Splash Bash in San Francisco on May 30, 2026. (T\u00e2m V\u0169\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But there\u2019s a waitlist, Vicky Carrillo, YMCA director of equity and aquatics, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s limited and it\u2019s popular,\u201d Carrillo said.<\/p>\n

Carrillo said they want to expand the program to offer more services, but that comes with challenges of its own. San Francisco doesn\u2019t have a lot of pools and, because of the racial disparities in swimming, older generations with the skills needed to teach kids are limited, Carrillo added.<\/p>\n

Parents of Black children also have less experience in the water than white parents. Seventy eight percent of Black parents lack swimming skills compared to 67% of white parents, data from the USA Swimming Foundation shows.<\/p>\n

The YMCA is trying to help with that.<\/p>\n

Carrillo said the YMCA is using a workforce program to train older kids in the neighborhood to swim and then have them train younger kids in turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really building the water safety from the community down through the generations,\u201d Carrillo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n