Council secured funding in FY27 Budget to provide nearly 60,000 free swim lessons for an additional 3,000 second graders

THE BRONX, NY – Today, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Council Members, and Asphalt Green announced a significant investment in the Wave Makers Initiative to expand access to free swimming lessons for students across New York City. The $1.5 million allocation, secured in the City’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, will help an additional 3,000 public school second-graders across the five boroughs learn how to swim with more than 58,500 swim lessons.

The public investment builds on the success of the Wave Makers pilot program, which was launched in 2024, and comes alongside the release of the Wave Makers Universal Swim Report, which highlights the impact of the program thus far. The report underscores the immense impact of the program in its first year of programming and outlines a pathway for citywide implementation, so all second-grade students in New York City’s public schools can learn the life-saving skill of swimming.

Photos from the funding announcement are available here.

“The success of the Wave Makers Pilot we launched proves what’s possible through public-private partnerships, improved coordination of existing city assets, and alignment with non-profit community organizations across the five boroughs. That is how we ensure every New York City child feels confident and safe in the water, at no cost to families,” said Speaker Julie Menin. “More than 1 out of 4 children in our city do not know how to swim. Access to public pools and swim lessons is not just a recreational need, it is an important element of public health and equity across our city’s communities. I am proud to announce $1.5 million in funding from my office to continue to scale this program, with the goal of reaching every second grader in our city.”

The Wave Makers Initiative is the City’s first public-private partnership dedicated to providing free swim lessons to New York City public school second-graders. Led by Speaker Menin, Council Member Shekar Krishnan, the nonprofit organization Asphalt Green, and The Gray Foundation, the initiative has demonstrated that New York City can dramatically expand access to swim education by leveraging existing public facilities and partnerships.

In its first year of programming in 2024, Wave Makers activated 15 pools across the five boroughs, providing nearly 54,000 free, high-quality swim lessons to 3,000 second-grade students. The program has served 6,000 second grade students to date. The pilot achieved a low-cost delivery model, with a cost to the City of approximately $22.80 per student per lesson, while remaining free for students and families. This model outperformed traditional and disjointed efforts, creating a comprehensive proof-of-concept to support expansion to a scalable universal model that could readily be deployed citywide.

The data and strategic insights gathered from the Wave Makers Pilot confirm that drowning is a preventable public health crisis that disproportionately affects Black, Latino, and immigrant communities in New York City. This persistent inequity is compounded by generations of limited access to pools and the absence of water safety skills. The Wave Makers Initiative successfully demonstrates that a multi-provider coalition, flexible programming, and the strategic mobilization of existing public assets can efficiently deliver life-saving skills to thousands of children in high-need neighborhoods.

Key findings from the Wave Makers Universal Swim Report include:

• Each child needs approximately 25 to 30 high-quality sessions to achieve the necessary water safety competencies.
• Smaller instructor-to-student ratios were found to accelerate the learning process, directly increasing the likelihood of success.
• Long interruptions, such as more than 10 days, lead to measurable learning loss, reinforcing the preference for consistent programming to achieve optimal water safety skills.
• While pool depth does not prevent a student from eventually becoming safe, gradually sloped pools facilitate a faster rate of individual skill acquisition, suggesting that certain infrastructure choices can accelerate the “velocity” of learning.
• The program successfully engaged populations traditionally excluded from the aquatic economy, with 56 percent of participants identifying as Hispanic, Black, or multicultural. Crucially, pre-program data revealed that 61 percent of parents possess limited or no swimming skills, confirming that school-based intervention is the only viable path to breaking generational cycles of water fear.
• 100 percent of participating Wave Makers students expressed interest in further lessons, and 83 percent reported feeling significantly safer in the water.

“Two years ago, the City Council, in response to a horrific uptick in drownings, worked with Wave Makers and private partnerships to bring swim lessons to second graders as a pilot program, ensuring that New York families have the tools and education to keep their children safe in the water,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan. “In this year’s budget, Speaker Julie Menin allocated $1.5 million in funding to scale the Wave Makers program to reach every second grader in our city. This program champions affordability and public safety— giving every New York family the tools they need to enjoy our beaches and pools and keep their families safe.”

“Every child deserves the safety, the joy, and the employment opportunities that come with knowing how to swim. I am grateful to stand with Speaker Menin, Council Member Krishnan, and Asphalt Green to give our kids a critical life skill,” said Council Member Eric Dinowitz. “I am proud to make this announcement in my district. Every family in New York City should have access to the pools and instruction their kids need to stay safe in the water, and this public-private partnership does just that.”

“The impact the Wave Makers Pilot achieved in its inaugural year is not by accident, it took a strong and aligned partnership with our public partners, Council Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Shekar Krishnan, as well as our private partner, the Gray Foundation, all of whom without their support the pilot would not have been possible. We are immensely grateful to Council Speaker Julie Menin and the City Council for securing additional funding for this life saving initiative,” said Jordan Brackett, CEO of Asphalt Green. “While today we celebrate the measurable success of teaching 6,000 public school second graders how to swim since the start of this program, we cannot lose momentum and must recognize on a wider scale that investing in universal swim competency is not solely investing in recreation, but advances public health, youth equity, workforce development, and climate resiliency. Now is the moment to transition from proving the model to scaling this life saving solution and this milestone funding moves us one step closer to that goal.”

“We are inspired by the success of Wave Makers and believe that learning to swim should be a right, not a privilege,” said The Gray Foundation’s Mindy and Jon Gray. “Because of the Wave Makers pilot, which we were proud to support, there are now 6,000 2nd graders across the 5 boroughs who learned how to swim in the first two years of the program. We are grateful to Council Speaker Julie Menin, Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Asphalt Green, and the many community partners for bringing this initiative to life and continuing to support a life saving program.”

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