On Monday, officials from Ogden City and Government Employees Health Association, or GEHA, gathered at the Marshall N. White Community Center to announce the expansion of a partnership to provide swim lessons free of charge to Ogden-area youth.

“A $35,000 contribution from G.E.H.A. will provide no-cost swimming and water safety lessons for 625 additional Ogden students, including new private lessons for students with sensory needs,” a press release on the arrangement reads.

This marks the partnership’s third year.

During the announcement, Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski said that swimming lessons are an important life experience for area youth.

“This is the kind of work that we do to lift up kids and make sure that kids are prepared for the world,” he said. “Prepared for life. Across the country, there’s too many kids that are falling victim to accidental drowning, and we’re the kind of community that does the work to make sure that we protect ourselves from that by proactively giving our kids experiences to prepare them for when those moments might arise. We hope and we pray that they don’t, but if or when they do, our kids are prepared.”

He said that the program has already helped around 900 kids in its first two years and now, an additional 625 will be joining them.

“It’s an enormous testament to the team of employees here at the city, and the number of countless supporters in the community that help them and surround them to help make sure that, not only is the city reaching out, but the entire community wraps our arms around our youth,” he said. “And we absolutely couldn’t do it without partners, and it’s this partnership that absolutely made this program possible.”

Nadolski added that it’s especially fitting that the main host of these swim lessons in the coming months will be the Marshall N. White Community Center — “A facility that’s named after a hero in our community. Officer, detective, and Dr. Marshall N. White. A man who stood for youth and lifted up youth through recreation his entire life, and ultimately gave his life in protection of those kids.”

Ogden City Recreation Supervisor Cydnee Clarke said that kids can be provided a towel, swimsuits and other items as needed as part of the lessons.

“With the help of GEHA and Ogden City, we are trying to get anyone that we can to break barriers,” she said.

She added that lessons will also be offered starting next spring at Lorin Farr Community Pool as part of the program, the first time the outdoor pool has hosted swim lessons since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are expanding, making our progress bigger to impact as many people as we can,” she said.

GEHA President and CEO David Hakanson said helping kids learn to swim truly reflects GEHA’s ongoing mission.

“Learning to swim is about more than just learning a new skill,” he said. “It’s about confidence. It’s about safety. It’s about giving a young person something they can carry with them the rest of their life, and when you think about it, that’s really what today is about — creating opportunity and taking care of one another. That’s an idea that means a great deal to us at Government Employees Health Association.”

He said the program will continue to be a way of helping break down barriers to obtaining swimming lessons, as it has for Ogden for the last three years and more than 20 cities across the country.

“Through this next round of support, 625 students will receive swim lessons and aquatic safety lessons at no cost to them or their families,” he said. “And we want them to have what they need to participate, including swimming equipment for those who need it, because access matters. If we can remove a couple barriers and give the child an opportunity to learn a new skill, gain confidence, and have some fun in the process, that’s an investment worth making. That’s an investment that pays a lifetime of dividends for participants, for their families, and for this community.”

Following the ceremony, Hakanson told the Standard-Examiner that the program has been a huge success, both in Ogden and beyond.

“The program works incredibly well,” he said. “We’re very focused here in Ogden. It’s our third year doing it. Across the country, we’re in over 20 cities with over 12,000 students who have access to this program as well, so we’re excited to be able to expand it here, to be able to provide more access to students who wouldn’t otherwise have that opportunity.”

He said it’s especially fitting in a community that GEHA has such a strong presence in.

“This is a community with a lot of federal workers, federal employees, military service members, retirees, and I want to thank them for their service,” he said. “We focus on communities where our members work, live and serve, and that’s really important here in Ogden, and so we’re really happy to be a part of it.”

For more information on swimming lessons and to register, visit https://www.ogdencity.gov/3376/Recreation.