Disney’s Blizzard Beach Hosts Biggest Florida Location for World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

Today marked the 10th anniversary of the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson and Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach was the largest host location in Florida, welcoming more than 350 attendees to the event.

  • The event was hosted by three-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Rowdy Gaines who kicked off the swim lesson before actually getting into the water himself for some hands-on teaching.
  • Children of all ages learned basic swim strokes from multiple instructors, in addition to the gold medalist.

  • Children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America were among the children who participated in today’s lesson.
  • Those who participated enjoyed about an hour of lessons in the Blizzard Beach wave pool (without the waves of course) before the park opened, as Summit Plummet loomed in the background.

  • Upon exiting the pool, Gaines and the rest of the instructors celebrated with the students over their involvement in the event.
  • They then retreated to the Lottawatta Lounge where they received a special gift to commemorate their experience and even meet and greet with Goofy.

  • Disney’s Blizzard Beach was one of 83 host sites in Florida for the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson.
  • The global educational event takes place at locations in 28 different countries over the course of 24 hours.
  • The official World’s Largest Swimming Lesson website offers the following description of the event:
    • The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, created by the World Waterpark Association in 2010, is a global public relations event supported by aquatic facilities, waterparks, pools, swim schools, YMCA's, among others. The WLSL event serves as a platform to help the global aquatics industry work together to build awareness about the fundamental importance of teaching children to swim to prevent drowning.
  • The WLSL Twitter account also shared a breakdown of some impressive numbers the event has reached over the past 10 years.

  • Gaines took to his own Twitter account to share his excitement for today’s event.

To learn more about the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson, visit the official website.