Why I’ve Made Swim Instruction My Life’s Work

Curt Straub is passionate about aquatic safety. Having spent five decades working in the pool industry, his focus on keeping swimmers, and particularly kids, safe when they’re in and around the water is all about making swimming instruction part of their lives, first at school, then everywhere else.

By Curt Straub

When you’ve spent a lifetime in the pool industry, clarity eventually replaces opinion, especially when it comes to safety. I’ve worked in design and construction, and for more than the past 40 years as an aquatic consultant, inspecting pools and helping families, builders, and communities get things right. I’ve seen beautiful projects, costly mistakes, and everything in between.

Here’s what I know for certain: people love water. Being in or near it is one of the great unifying pleasures of human life. And because water is powerful, beautiful, and indifferent, safety has to be part of that love. It’s non-negotiable, front and center.

Teaching every child to swim through our public pool and school systems isn’t a luxury, it is, I believe, a moral obligation and one of the smartest public-safety investments we can make. I know this can be a tough issue to discuss for many people in our industry and for our consumers, because to a large extent we are talking about avoiding the horrible tragedy of child drowning.

I believe the incredibly serious nature of the subject and the risks it encompasses are all the more reasons to lean into the issue, rather than pushing it aside. In short, I believe to a large extent, we’ve too often allowed our fear to guide our thoughts, words and actions. Many of us are guilty of it to varying degrees and clearly that needs to change.

Not long ago, I hit a personal crossroads, thinking about my own future and that of the industry. I stepped into my front yard, looked up at the sky, and asked a simple question: What should I do with the rest of my career? The answer landed hard and instantly.

I’m here to promote swim lessons. I’m here to promote swim safety. I’m here to hopefully save lives, as we all should be. It struck me, that for someone in the watershaping industry, there can be no higher calling.

The Numbers Shout

We also know this for certain: formal swim instruction dramatically reduces drowning risk. Multiple studies have shown that children who receive swimming lessons reduce their risk of drowning by roughly 80–90 percent. That’s not a marketing slogan, that’s public-health reality.

Drowning remains the leading causes of accidental death for young children in the United States. It happens quietly. It happens fast. And it happens in places we think are safe, backyards, neighborhood pools, familiar water.

The tragic irony is that this is largely preventable.

If we ask parents who’ve lost children to drowning accidents, we don’t need to be mental health professionals to recognize their grief is immeasurable. Some come away believing pools should be filled in or outlawed entirely. I understand that reaction, but it misses the point.

Swimming Is a Life Skill

Here’s where I believe our industry, and our society, has missed the mark, and badly so.

Yes, the pool industry promotes “learn to swim” programs and we have made progress. Yes, there are excellent private lessons, safety campaigns, and parental initiatives. I support all of them. But they don’t reach everyone.

The only way to reach the majority of children, across all income levels, neighborhoods, and backgrounds, is through the public-education system and public aquatic facilities.

If we’re serious about safety, swim instruction must be treated like reading, math, or basic physical education: a core life skill. Schools don’t need to own pools to make this work. Communities already have resources in the form of municipal pools, YMCAs, aquatic centers and other facilities that can be partnered with and utilized throughout the school day.

At a time when many public pools are closing due to deferred maintenance and funding challenges, integrating swim instruction into education could actually revitalize these facilities by giving them a clear, essential purpose.

Unlocking Experience

When a child learns to swim, we don’t just prevent tragedy—we open doors that last a lifetime:

Health & Fitness: Low-impact, full-body exercise for every age
Confidence: Mastery of water builds courage that carries into life
Recreation: Beaches, lakes, rivers, pools, boating, snorkeling
Sports: Competitive swimming, diving, water polo, triathlons
Community: Teamwork, friendships, mentorship, belonging
Safety: The ability to save yourself—or someone else

When we watch kids learn to swim, compete, grow, and thrive within the aquatic community, we see firsthand what swimming can mean to a young person’s life. Discipline. Health. Confidence. Purpose.

You simply cannot overstate the value.

Basic Logic

Some people ask about cost. Others talk about logistics. To me, those are obstacles, not arguments. When you consider the value of the above list of benefits, prioritizing both public pools and the programs that take place in them easily rises above the immediate practicality of keeping theses facilities open, and building new ones.

We already fund emergency response, trauma care, and public safety campaigns after tragedies occur. Teaching kids to swim is prevention, and prevention is always the smartest investment. We should not need to wait for tragedy to happen in order to take action.

And let’s be honest: when people grow up confident in water, many of them will someday own pools, visit aquatic facilities, teach their own children, and support the very industry I’ve spent my career in. In this sense, we create a culture of aquatic competence and safety. In practical terms it’s sustainable, while being altruistic in the greater sense.

This is why I’m personally not interested in selling pools or chemicals anymore, but instead interested in saving lives.

The Easiest Argument

Here’s my favorite part of advocating for swim instruction: There is no argument against it. Ask any parent: Wouldn’t you want your child to know how to save their own life if they fell into water?

That’s the end of the debate. Swimming education works on every level, safety, health, community, economics, and human dignity. It brings people together. It strengthens public infrastructure. And it prevents unthinkable loss.

So yes, this is my mission now. I’ll talk to school boards, city leaders, legislators, industry professionals—anyone who will listen. Because when I asked the sky what my purpose was, the answer was unmistakable.

For this industry veteran, the issue is abundantly clear: Learn to swim and save your life, or someone else’s. Why would we do anything less?

Curt Straub is a vastly experienced pool consultant with more than 30 years experience, and president of Aquatic Consultants, Inc.

Swim instruction photo by Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock.