Henrico Police Athletic League summer camp emphasizes aquatics safety, fun

Before Kai Thompson started her summer camp swim lessons this summer she was only able to stand in a pool, because she didn't know any actual strokes.

But through weekly lessons at the Frank J. Thornton YMCA Aquatic Center through the Henrico Police Athletic League summer camp, the 10-year-old rising fifth-grader became more confident and skilled at aquatics.

“I like learning how to swim. I now know that it is not that safe, so I like to know how to swim safely and properly,” Kai said, between demonstrating how to kick her legs above the water and make alternating circles with her arms, while holding her fingers together like scoops so she can swim faster.

Wednesday was the last camp swim sessions for the PAL campers based out of the Harvie Elementary School site. Four groups visited the pool in successive sessions separated by age and gender. Before the children entered the pool, staffers gave the campers a safety talk.

Kai and a half a dozen of her friends proudly wore green necklaces that campers (and all YMCA swimmers) who have passed the YMCA's swim test wear. The accessory allows them to whiz down the twisty water slide and swim in deeper water where they might not be able to stand.

“My favorite thing to do is swimming,” Kai said. “I'm not perfect. Passing that test took a few tries. I'm happy now. I want to be an excellent swimmer. I love coming to the YMCA.”

To sport the green necklace, Kai had to swim the length of the 25-yard lap pool kicking to propelled herself forward while moving her arms out of the water together with rhythmic breathing that included blowing bubbles and lifting her head out of the water. Next, she had to jump in the deep end of the pool, get herself straight up and tread water for 15 minutes. Campers are taught to listen to instructors and pay attention to safety information.

The required skill mastery to garner the coveted green necklace status doesn't just attest to Kai's new athletic ability, it's a crucial survival skill.

“Swim lessons are very near and dear to us because we wanted to make sure that none of our kids ever had any kind of swimming accident or drowning incidents, so we made it a priority a long time ago to make sure our kids got swimming lessons every single week during the summer camp,” said Henrico PAL program director Lowell Thomas. “We spend a lot of time around water going to Kings Dominion Water Park and Water Country. So making sure that they have water safety and swimming fundamentals is crucial to our program.”

Not all of the 500 Henrico PAL campers even got to Kai's level. Six-year-old Amira Spencer was happy learning to blow bubbles and kick her legs while wearing a safety vest. Eight-year-old Chloe Collier learned to float like a star. Eleven-year-old Alexis White learned the backstroke.

“I learned a lot of things,” Alexis said. "I'm better than before,”

Water safety focus

For some campers, the skill of simply pushing up off the floor of the pool is one that sets them on the path to overcoming the fear of water and even a lifetime of exercise and fun in the water.

The issue of water safety is especially crucial this summer as the Virginia Department of Health announced an increase in drowning deaths of children under the age of five. Of the eight children who have accidentally drowned in pools in Virginia in 2025, five of those incidents took place in Central Virginia, according to the Virginia Office of the Medical Examiner. That total number is more than double from the number of drownings of children under five that occurred last year.

A child drowned in a pool in Henrico County on July 12, at least the second small child to die from drowning in a residential pool in Henrico County this summer.

Eleven people have died by drowning so far this year in Central Virginia. In 2024, a total of 42 people drowned in the state.

With a month left to go this summer, the VDH is publicizing a water and pool safety campaign, stressing the need for adults to actively supervise children in the water. The VDH has posted numerous online resources including a water watcher pledge for adults to put down distractions and devices to make sure young swimmer are safe.

Even with a lifeguard, health officials say adults need to make sure children get out of the water when their adult has to take a break.

“It's a really hot year, so people flock to water to cool down,” said Briana Brill, environmental health coordinator with the VDH Office of Environmental Health Services. “Children can take the safety pledge too, to never swim alone, to swim with a buddy and to stay away from drains.”

Resources from Swim Healthy VA's water safety toolkit can be applied to people swimming in the James River too.

Brill describes drowning as quiet and fast, not with dramatic splashing and yelling as portrayed in the media.

Key among the water safety tips from experts are providing swimming lessons to children and for those who still need support to use approved U.S. Coast Guard life jackets as safety devices.

Chrissy Fandel, executive director of drowning prevention at the YMCA of Greater Richmond, said the Y's focus on water safety throughout lessons, also are taught to 6,000 Henrico County Public School second-graders in a Learn2Swim partnership program and 18,000 campers at area locations during the course of the summer.

An additional 4,000 second-graders soak up the Learn2Swim lessons at the NOVA of Virginia Aquatics Center.

But while the exposure for those youngsters in the public school system is impactful, Fandel encourages families to continue visiting the Y's swimming facility because the skill takes time to master.

Denise Ragsdale, executive director of experience for the Thornton Aquatic Center said the PAL summer aquatic lessons get the children's toes wet for return visits during Learn2Swim.

“We see many of them in third and fifth grade through Henrico PAL,” Ragsdale said. “This is great. This is exactly why this Thornton facility was built. It's nice to see the mission and vision really coming to life.”

Overcoming barriers to swimming

For the Henrico PAL group, the recent drowning death of Malcolm Jamal Warner on a beach in Costa Rica hits close to home.

“When it comes to African American children from five to 12, over 64% don't know how to swim,” said Kenneth L. Ragland, executive director and CEO of the Henrico PAL and a retired Henrico Police sargeant. “In the Hispanic community, it's a little over 45% that don't know how to swim. That has to do with having reduced access to public and private pools.”

The Thornton Aquatic Center was built as a public private partnership that allows Henrico County residents without YMCA memberships to swim for free for two hours on weekend afternoons with a reservation.

In addition to the Thornton location the Shady Grove, Tuckahoe and Chickahominy YMCAs in Henrico County have pools. Parent and child classes are available starting for children as young as six months.

There are other barriers to swimming. Memberships to swim clubs, with the needed wardrobe and gear can get pricey. Fandel encourages people who want to learn to swim where finances may be an issue to apply for the YMCA's scholarships. The popular Henrico PAL camps fill up quickly because of the convenient locations based out of area schools and cost of less than $1,000 for eight weeks.

“And then you have the generational fear and trauma to a lot of African American and Hispanic kids because their parents are afraid of water and don't know how to swim, so these type of programs are vital to changing that paradigm,” Ragland said.

PAL directors view their program's success by the increased number of campers who are exposed to water safely mastering skills year to year. Thomas sees progress from hanging onto a wall to kicking and bobbing as campers learn to swim. He hopes the skills learned carry over beyond camp.

“You see their confidence grow,” Thomas said. “One trip we take every summer is to the Pocahontas State Park. They have three pools. One is a kiddie pool. One is a midsize three or four-foot pool. And then there is a six-foot pool. And to see the kids' confidence where they're jumping into the six-foot pool because they're confident they can swim. I have second-graders; I ask: 'What are you doing over there?' And they say, 'I can swim, I passed my swim test.'”

Leah Shaw, Henrico PAL assistant manager for the Harvie Elementary summer camp site, who was watching swimmers like Kai from the side of the pool, said she saw the swim lessons build the campers' confidence.

“These lessons are expansive. These lessons could help save their lives or the lives of someone they know,” Shaw said. “Now they walk tall and smile a little wider.”

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.