--- title: American Red Cross Swimming Campaign to Reduce Drownings description: Most Americans think they can swim just fine, but a new survey reveals many still don't know basic water-safety skills canonical: https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-20T23:28:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:57:24.099Z article:section: Health og:title: American Red Cross Swimming Campaign to Reduce Drownings og:description: Most Americans think they can swim just fine, but a new survey reveals many still don't know basic water-safety skills og:url: https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: American Red Cross Swimming Campaign to Reduce Drownings twitter:description: Most Americans think they can swim just fine, but a new survey reveals many still don't know basic water-safety skills twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Almost Half of America Can't Swim, Survey Says > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6f552d3a-c87a-4110-a835-651bafe9f648&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney May 20, 2014 11:28 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney May 20, 2014 11:28 PM UTC Only 56 percent of Americans can perform the five core swimming skills, a recent [survey](http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Launches-Campaign-to-Cut-Drowning-in-Half-in-50-Cities) conducted on behalf of the American Red Cross said. The steps, also known as “water competency,” include jumping or stepping into water over one’s head, returning to the surface to tread water or float for one minute, circling around and identifying an exit, swimming 25 yards to that point and then exiting the water. The Red Cross said Tuesday that it plans to instruct 50,000 people across 19 states how to swim properly, part of a new campaign to reduce the drowning rate in 50 cities by 50 percent during the next three to five years. An average of 10 people in the U.S. die from drowning each day, [according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/water-safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html). It turns out that Americans also think they are more skilled in the water than they are: 86 percent of the respondents to the same survey claimed they knew how to swim. Only 46 percent of those surveyed said they have experienced a situation in which they thought they might drown, and nearly a fifth said they knew somebody who drowned. “We’re asking every family to make sure that both adults and children can swim and that parents make water safety a priority this summer,” Red Cross Centennial Initiative director Connie Harvey said in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/"},"headline":"Almost Half of America Can't Swim, Survey Says","datePublished":"2014-05-20T23:28:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:57:24.099Z","description":"Most Americans think they can swim just fine, but a new survey reveals that 44% don't know basic water-safety skills","url":"https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/","keywords":["fitness","Exercise","swimming","red cross"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/fitness/","name":"fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/106912/red-cross-swimming-campaign/","name":"Almost Half of America Can't Swim, Survey Says"}}]}] ```