Oshun Swim School Partners With the City of Seattle to Improve Swimming Experience for Black Seattle Residents
As part of its Swim Seattle Initiative to reduce drowning rates, which disproportionately affect Seattle’s Black population, Seattle Parks and Recreation partnered with Oshun Swim School this summer to bring a series of open swims and educational workshops for BIPOC and allies.
Oshun Swim School, facilitated and founded by Chandrika Francis in 2018, is an Afro-Indigenous, healing-centered swim school that aims to improve the aquatic skills of its pupils through trauma-informed courses and workshops.
According to a statement released by the King County newsroom, the public health department for Seattle and King County determined there were 30 preventable drowning deaths in 2023, and that the annual estimate for drowning deaths has steadily increased since 2019.
The release also states that from 2018 to 2022, the rate of preventable drowning deaths among Black/African American individuals was twice as high as the King County average.
This month’s open swim will be on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Interested attendees can access the registration link through Oshun Swim School’s website. The link also provides the option to register for next month’s session, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, open from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the monthly open swim sessions, Seattle Parks and Recreation is working with Oshun Swim School to create a survey designed to assist with improving the swimming experience for Black Seattle residents at Rainier Beach and Medgar Evers pools.
“While Medgar Evers and Rainier Beach Pools are located in neighborhoods that are between 30%-40% Black, only 10-13% of customers enrolled in their aquatic programs are Black,” Francis stated in an email to the Emerald.
The survey is intended for Black community members of the Seattle area, and some questions can only be answered by Black people who have been to Medgar Evers or Rainier Beach pool. Survey submissions will be reviewed through Oct. 10, and participants have the choice of giving their name or remaining anonymous.
