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Thanks to Swim 4 Fun, Swim 4 Life, High Point students who might not be able to afford swim lessons are learning to swim.

Started by the High Point Swim Club in 2008, the program partnered with its first school, Northwood Elementary, this year to teach 110 third-graders these life-saving skills.

The organization has worked with groups such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater High Point and Salvation Army of Greater High Point to reach out to disadvantaged youth.

Northwood Elementary was the swim club’s and Guilford County Schools’ pilot school for this parntership. Aaron Reeves, the swim club’s head coach, said the club wants to expand the program to other schools and other areas of the community.

The Swim 4 Fun, Swim 4 Life program has enough funds to carry it through December 2012, thanks to the Molly Millis-Hedgecock Foundation and sponsorships from Courtyard by Marriott of High Point, TYR Swim Products and Pannell Swim Shop. Through these partnerships, the program provides participants with towels; bathing suits, if needed; caps; goggles; kickboards; and nutritious snacks.

Swim 4 Fun, Swim 4 Life also partners with USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative, which offers a similar program.

Working with the school system will take away another obstacle some kids face getting to swim lessons — transportation. Northwood’s four-week lessons took place during the school day, so students had a way to get to and from the pool.

Reeves said the club started working on the program in 2007 after a rash of drownings at High Rock Lake. The Centers for Disease Control lists drowning as the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14.

“The number is astounding,” Reeves said. “We have a facility, we have the time, we have instructors, we felt there was a need in the community, and we wanted to help somehow.”

“This program gives our students the opportunity to build their confidence and self-esteem and equip them with knowledge that will protect them throughout their lives,” Northwood Principal Scott Winslow said in a school news release.

Working with the school system may also open up some grant opportunities to fund the program. The program costs $3,500 per classroom.

“The thing that’s exciting about it is there are a lot of things swimming can do for kids besides saving lives,” Reeves said. “We find that swimming helps kids with organizational skills, helps with study habits, helps kids prioritize, helps them set goals and, in many avenues of their life, it helps them problem solve and makes them better students overall.”

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 373-7109 or elizabeth. seagraves@news-record.com