Racial and economic segregation in the United States has limited people’s opportunities to learn to swim1,2  and likely contributes to fatal drowning disparities.3,4  Racial and ethnic differences in learning to swim have been documented among adults.4,5  In Chicago in 2020 to 2021, we found differences crossed generations. Over half of Black parents and Hispanic/Latine parents reported no children in their household had ever taken swimming lessons compared with less than one quarter of white parents. In this study, we describe prior year swimming lesson participation for Chicago children in 2022, a year impacted by pool closures related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and lifeguard shortages. We also examine barriers to participation and child comfort with 5 swimming skills by child age, gender, and race and ethnicity.

Data were collected in October and November 2022 through the Voices of Child Health...

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