After School at the Pool: Co-op Program Teaches Swimming

Even though Ocean City is surrounded by water, it's not always a given that all local students know how to swim.

For more than a decade, Ocean City High School's competitive swimmers and Ocean City Aquatics and Fitness Center Director Karen Pratz have worked together to help fix that.

The high-school swimmers were at the Aquatics Center on Wednesday afternoon teaching Ocean City Primary School students swimming.

Their volunteer efforts are part of a cooperative program between the Primary School, the Aquatics Center and the student volunteers. May is National Water Safety Month, and the Primary School students visit the pool each Wednesday during the month to learn how to be safe around the water. 

The student volunteers included Colby McGuigan, A.J. Mirallegro and senior Casey Merrill, who has been part of the program since she was in eighth grade.

For Ocean City Primary School physical education teacher Lisa Cuneo, the program offers a chance for the young students to learn a vital skill, but she also remarked on how some of her typically shy students came out of their shell Wednesday as they played in the pool and interacted with their older peers.

The program offers a chance for the 12 participating students to gain confidence around the water.