© 2024 WLRN
MIAMI | SOUTH FLORIDA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kids Go Swimming With The Miami Heat's James Jones

Learning to swim isn’t always fun. It requires antagonizing months of adults throwing you in the water without floaties, expecting you to flap your way to the other side of the pool.

But learning how to swim is a lot more fun if Miami Heat player James Jones is in the pool too.

James Jones, along with team TV host Jason Jackson, took a dip with kids at Overtown’s Gibson Park Pool last week and discussed the importance of pool safety, all part of the Heat’s Learn To Swim campaign, now in its 12th year.

Campaigns like this come with a huge task ahead of them: in Florida, the leading cause of death for kids under five is drowning. What’s more, according to American Red Cross Territory Aquatics Specialist Patrick Beason, Miami-Dade County sees the second most aquatic emergencies of all the counties in Florida.

While a scary reality, the Gibson Park kids were eager to jump in the water with a two-time NBA champion.  

A common drill when learning how to swim? Holding onto the side of the pool and kicking. Jones took a refresher course:

And talked to two boys about the importance of swimming:

Burnie was also poolside at Gibson Park:

More On This Topic