2016 World’s Largest Swimming Lesson breaks records

For the seventh year in a row, the World Waterpark Association-backed World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL) has inspired worldwide participation.

Held on 24th June, 40,298 participants took part in the event at 641 host locations in 24 countries – with participant numbers rising by 6% over 2015 while the number of host locations grew an impressive 33%.

This yearly event is fun to watch as hundreds of waterparks, aquatics facilities and public pools across the world hold swim lessons on the same day, all aiming to collectively break records for the biggest swim lesson in the world.

However, the fun is underpinned by a serious message that ‘Swimming lessons save lives’.

With drowning the second leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children aged between the age of one and 14, since 2010, WLSL has set out to serve as a platform to help local community aquatics facilities and the various national, regional and state water safety and drowning prevention groups work together to get the vital message out.

This year, WLSL organisers changed the rules a little to make participation easier across the world’s different time zones with hosts able to pick their own starting times for the 30-minute lessons, provided they took place on 24th June.

Since its debut, the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson has consistently set Guinness World Records. In 2014, there were 36,564 participants in 22 countries. Last year, the number of participants jumped to 38,170 participants in 22 countries, though Guinness was not able to confirm that WLSL held the record. 

For more information go to www.wlsl.org

Australasian Leisure Management is a supporter of the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson.

Image shows participation in the 2016 WLSL at the Wild Wadi waterpark in Dubai.

7th September 2016 - CHANNEL 9 BRISBANE NEWS REPORTS ON BENEFITS OF THE POSEIDON ANTI-DROWNING DETECTION SYSTEM

29th April 2016 - ORGANISERS ANNOUNCE NEW 24-HOUR WINDOW FOR THE 2016 WORLD’S LARGEST SWIMMING LESSON

28th April 2016 - NEW AUSTRALIAN WATER SAFETY STRATEGY RECOGNISES IMPACTS OF NON-FATAL DROWNING

4th August 2015 - WLSL 2015 ACHIEVES NEW (UNOFFICIAL) WORLD RECORD

15th June 2015 - SWIM AUSTRALIA BACKS THE WORLD’S LARGEST SWIMMING LESSON

8th March 2015 - WORLD’S LARGEST SWIMMING LESSON ADAPTS FOR AUSTRALASIA AND ASIA