Mt. Hood Lions Club Swim Lessons

By: Amber Ford, The Mountain Times

Telltale signs of summer include sunny days and river swimming. Memories of the school year fade, but for many Mt. Hood Villages’ kids, summer also means learning how to fare in our waters –  with the help of The Mt. Hood Lions Club. 

The Mt. Hood Lions Club Swim Lessons began in 1951. They are a staple of the organization’s summer programs for local parents and kids on the mountain. With over 150 lakes and 14 scenic and swimmable rivers within reach of The Mt. Hood Villages, the Lions are doing their part to ensure families understand the importance of swimmer safety while they enjoy our pristine waterways. 

The Swim Lessons program offered through The Mt. Hood Lions Club is held in mid-June and includes roughly ten Mt. Hood Lions volunteers with six swim instructors, three of whom are licensed and certified through The Red Cross. Offering beginner, intermediate, and advanced lessons for kids, the classes encourage growth, with swimmers advancing throughout the courses. 

The Mt. Hood Lions Club has seen continuous growth in the program’s popularity and record- breaking registration numbers. According to Mt. Hood Lions Club member and swim instructor Aubrey Maricle, the Club’s swim lessons have become a cherished annual event. "Every year we have been able to teach more and more kids,” she said. “Last year, we were able to teach over 100 kids and this year we have close to that number signed up so far,” Maricle added. 

With over 20 years of swim instruction and lifeguard experience, Maricle acknowledges how important learning how to swim is for all children. “Swim lessons are absolutely fundamental for every child and adult in every community, just for safety alone,” she said. “Everyone needs to know what to do in certain scenarios and how to help themselves and others in the water if the need arises,” she added. According to The Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are over 4,000 unintentional drowning deaths in the United States annually, with most being children ages one to four. The CDC also cites drowning as the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 5-14. “My motivation every year in these swim lessons is that if we can prevent even just one accident/ drowning every year, then these lessons are totally worth it,” Maricle said. 

Although The Mt. Hood Lions Club Swim Lessons program has shifted and changed over time (the event even taking a pause for several years), longtime Mt. Hood Villages local and Lions Club member Milt Fox says the lessons have always been a popular community event. “When the swim lessons originally began in the 1950’s, we had over 130 students registered the first year,” Fox said. “These lessons were free and instructed by The Red Cross. The lessons were given at the Cook’s Motel pool, just west of Brightwood, and were well attended for around 15 years,” he added. 

While the overall goal of The Mt. Hood Lions Club Swim Lessons is to keep kids safe and water-ready for summer, students will also learn different techniques that encourage fun and swimming growth. “We try to cover everything from safety techniques like floating and treading water on your own to all the different strokes and diving,” Maricle said. “We have three different levels available, which allows us to accommodate every child who is signed up to learn something new and advance their skills, and to be safe and have fun in the water at the same time,” she added.

For more information on future swim lessons and other Mt. Hood Lions Club events, please visit https://mthoodlions.org/.