Join Dollywood’s Splash Country and LeConte Medical Center for Water Safety Day 2021! Last summer, tens of thousands of children in the Sevier County community missed the opportunity to participate in formal swimming lessons, creating an urgent need for water safety education in 2021.
Drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death in children ages 1-4, and it’s the second leading cause of injury-related death of children 14 and younger. Participation in swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by up to 88 percent! Dollywood’s Splash Country is committed to helping bridge the gap to prevent drowning.
This year, swim instructors and community leaders will come together Thursday, June 17, to provide a free 30-minute lesson in the morning and offer education throughout the day. Area partners LeConte Medical Center, The Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, WVLT Local 8 News and WIVK 107.7 join Splash Country to host the event.
“Dollywood’s Splash Country is committed to doing our part to educate and raise awareness about water safety,” explained Jason Boothe, Vice President of Park Operations. “In fact, we’re offering a $25 ticket and giveaways to incentivize people to join us for the swim lesson at 10 a.m. Research shows that swimming lessons save lives, so we’re inviting the community to join us as we host the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson.”
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL) is a one-day event that happens at pools and water parks around the world. Dollywood’s Splash Country is one of the participating venues, and to build out the event with a greater scope of water awareness, the Smokies’ most-trusted water park created Water Safety Day.
“LeConte Medical Center is honored to be a part of raising community awareness around water safety,” said LeConte Medical Center President and CAO Gaye Jolly. “This event is extremely important to the safety of our community and goes a long way to ensure everyone can enjoy swimming and other water activities. We are blessed to have great partners like the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation and Dollywood’s Splash County for Water Safety Day.”
This year, Dollywood’s Splash Country is partnering with SafeSplash Swim School for the swim lesson. The lesson begins at 10 a.m. at Mountain Waves wave pool. Vendor booths are open from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Guests who visit the vendor booths receive a Splash Pass, allowing them to receive a prize at each booth. Once the participants have visited all vendors, they may turn their pass in for the chance to win two season passes to Dollywood’s Splash Country!
To take advantage of the $25 ticket offer, guests can visit Dollywood.com/watersafety. Water Safety Day and WLSL registration begins Thursday, June 17, at 9 a.m. at Dollywood’s Splash Country. The park opens to guests at 9:30 a.m. To receive a free gift, guests should arrive early to register before the swim lesson begins at 10 a.m. Dollywood’s Splash Country admission is required to participate in Water Safety Day and may be purchased on-site or online at Dollywood.com.
Though drowning is preventable, it’s one of the leading causes of death among children. Dollywood’s Splash Country wants to change that. For ten years now, the water park has set aside a day to educate the community about water safety.
This year, swim instructors and community leaders will come together Thursday, June 20 to provide a free 30-minute lesson in the morning and offer education throughout the day. Area partners LeConte Medical Center, The Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, WVLT Local 8 News and WIVK 107.7 join Splash Country to host the event.
“As a family water park, we believe it is incumbent upon us to join arm-in-arm with our community and raise awareness about the benefits of teaching kids to swim,” explained Dollywood’s Splash Country General Manager Janet Dawson. “This is the tenth year that we’ve participated in the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson. We’ve made this an important day in our season because research shows that formal swim lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children who are four and younger. We believe this simple event can save lives.”
The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson happens at pools and water parks around the world on June 20. Dollywood’s Splash Country is one of the participating venues. Last year, nearly 42,000 kids and adults participated in 27 countries.
Due to popular demand, Olympic gold medalist Jenna Johnson and legendary swim coach Jackie Bertucci are teaming up for a second consecutive year to lead the lesson at Dollywood’s Splash Country.
“LeConte Medical Center is honored to be a part of raising awareness concerning safety on or near water,” said LeConte Medical Center President and CAO Gaye Jolly. “The event is important to our community and we are proud to have great partners like the Dr. Robert F Thomas Foundation and Dollywood’s Splash County for Water Safety Day.”
The swim lesson begins at 10 a.m. at Mountain Waves wave pool. Vendor booths are open from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Guests who visit the vendor booths receive a Splash Pass, allowing them to receive a prize at each booth. Once the participants have visited all vendors, they may turn their pass in for the chance to win two season passes to Dollywood’s Splash Country!
Water Safety Day and WLSL registration begins Thursday, June 20 at 9 a.m. at Dollywood’s Splash Country. The park opens to guests at 9:30 a.m. Guests should arrive early to register before the swim lesson begins at 10 a.m. Dollywood’s Splash Country admission is required to participate in Water Safety Day and may be purchased on-site or online at Dollywood.com.
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Swimming lessons save lives. Because of its passion for safety, Dollywood’s Splash Country once again is hosting Water Safety Day to raise awareness and is offering a discounted ticket so more guests will take advantage of this opportunity to learn. This ninth annual event includes a free 30-minute swim lesson on Thursday, June 21. Water park guests also are invited to visit vendor booths to learn about staying safe in the water and sun. Area partners LeConte Medical Center, The Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, WVLT Local 8 News and Star 102.1 join with Dollywood’s Splash Country to host the event.
Dollywood’s Splash Country season passholders and super passholders are invited to bring a friend to the water park for a special $30 ticket through July 1. For Water Safety Day only, this offer will be extended to all guests! To take advantage, you must ask for the $30 ticket at the front gate on June 21.
“Across the country, more children drown in the month of June than any other month,” explained Dollywood’s Splash Country General Manager Janet Dawson. “And, according to a 2014 survey completed by American Red Cross, more than half of all Americans (54%) either can’t swim or don’t have basic swimming skills. As a water park, we want to lead the way to educate our community about being safe in the water.”
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The swim lesson happens at pools and water parks around the world on June 21—in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record™ for the world’s largest swimming lesson. Dollywood’s Splash Country is one of the participating venues. Last year, more than 41,000 kids and adults participated in 26 countries. This year, the goal is to have more than 42,000 participants worldwide!
To lead the lesson at Dollywood’s Splash Country, Olympic gold medalist Jenna Johnson and legendary swim coach Jackie Bertucci are teaming up to get swimmers comfortable in the water.
“Water Safety Day is extremely important to our local community to raise awareness about staying safe on or near the water,” said LeConte Medical Center President and CAO Gaye Jolly. “LeConte Medical Center is proud to partner with the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation and Dollywood’s Splash Country on this event.”
Time in the water can be dangerous for children because drowning remains the leading cause of unintended injury-related death for kids ages 1-4, and the second leading cause of accidental death for children younger than 14. Research shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% among children ages 1 to 4.
The swim lesson begins at 10 a.m. at Mountain Waves wave pool. Vendor booths are open from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Guests who visit the vendor booths receive a Splash Pass, allowing them to receive a prize at each booth. Once the participants have visited all vendors, they may turn their pass in for the chance to win two season passes to Dollywood’s Splash Country.
Water Safety Day and WLSL registration begins Thursday, June 21 at 9 a.m. at Dollywood’s Splash Country. The park opens to guests at 9:30 a.m. Guests should arrive early to register before the swim lesson begins at 10 a.m. Dollywood’s Splash Country admission is required to participate in Water Safety Day and may be purchased on-site or online at Dollywood.com.
June is a particularly important month for water safety especially as it relates to children. That’s just one reason why Dollywood’s Splash Country is committed to water safety education and awareness. It’s also why the water park hosted Water Safety Day in conjunction with the World’s Largest Swimming Lesson (WLSL). This eighth annual event was held on Thursday, June 22. Area partners LeConte Medical Center, The Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, WVLT Local 8 News and Star 102.1 joined with Dollywood’s Splash Country to host the event.
Water park guests visited vendor booths to learn about staying safe in the water and sun. They also joined the attempt to set a new record for the world’s largest swimming lesson!
This worldwide swim lesson happens at pools and water parks around the globe on June 22. Dollywood’s Splash Country is one location where swimmers of all ages and abilities come to take part in the lesson in hopes of breaking the world record. Last year, more than 40,000 kids and adults from 24 countries participated in setting the Guinness World Record for largest swim lesson.
"LeConte Medical Center is proud to partner once again with our friends at Dollywood's Splash Country and the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation for Water Safety Day," said LeConte Medical Center President/CAO Gaye Jolly. "Opportunities to provide health education to the families in our community are very important to us. We want to do all we can to promote a healthy and safe summer for the children of our region."
Time in the water can be dangerous for children because drowning remains the leading cause of unintended injury-related death for kids ages 1-4, and the second leading cause of accidental death for children younger than 14. Research shows participation in formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning by 88 percent among children ages 1 to 4.
“We love our community and we want everyone to be safe in the water this summer,” explained Dollywood’s Splash Country General Manager Janet Dawson. “This event is an opportunity for us to lead the way in awareness and education about water safety, so we’re proud to host it.”
