The state budget earmarked $150 million to expand local swimming facilities and teach more New Yorkers to swim, but lawmakers want the state to do more to combat a national rise in fatal drowning accidents — especially in disadvantaged communities.

Accidental drowning kills more than 4,000 people in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is the leading cause of death nationwide for children ages 1 to 4. It's the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages 5 to 14. 

The risk is higher for disadvantaged communities and mentally disabled people. And fatal and nonfatal drowning is often silent, and easy to miss in a body of water with multiple swimmers.

"Drowning doesn't look the way Hollywood typically shows it," said Kim Kowalski, acquatics director with the Capital District YMCA. "It's not this loud, arms above the head, splashing, yelling, you know — it's very quiet. It's a kid or adult who cannot make any forward progress and is unable to lift their head up enough to get full breaths of air, and they just slowly and silently slip under the water."

The state Health Department is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve New York's drowning data, but the Legislature wants more to be done.

New York lawmakers passed a bill this session to require the state Health Department to conduct education programs to improve public awareness of the dangers of fatal and non-fatal drowning. The outreach must teach methods to reduce drowning risks, including water safety or swimming lessons.

"An education campaign is very timely," said Kowalski. 

The Capital District YMCA has recently had waitlists for families to get swimming lessons, which fell by the wayside since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If there's five or six adults, there's that false sense of security of 'We're all around, we're watching,' and you know, 'Nothing's going to happen," Kowalski continued. "But no one is taking that primary responsibility and they all think someone else is doing, someone else is watching. ... And no one is specifically watching the kids in the water, and that's a lot of times when problems happen."

Expanding New Yorkers' access to swimming was part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget this year. The final $239 billion budget included $150 million for the state's NY SWIMS capital grant program to increase safe swimming opportunities across the state and address equity gaps.

The first application round for municipal swimming facility projects in underserved communities across the state opened in May. The remaining NY SWIMS capital funding will be made available during subsequent application periods, according to the Health Department on Friday.

The state's Temporary Commission to Prevent Childhood Drownings recently met and its work is ongoing. The Health Department recently revised its website to highlight drowning risks and water safety, according to the department.

But lawmakers say an additional public awareness campaign is needed to reach disadvantaged communities at higher risk of fatal and non-fatal drowning accidents.

Assembly sponsor Karines Reyes, a Bronx Democrat, said she and her legislative colleagues worked to pass the legislation to address the widespread lack of water safety education that exists across the state.

“This is exhibited by the numerous fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents that occur each year," Reyes said in a statement Friday. "By having an education campaign, publicizing important tips and information that swimmers can use to stay safe will save countless lives. This is especially important for children and parents seeking to find alternative ways to cool off from the summer heat in communities of color, which tend to have less access to public pools and waterways. The costs of this program would be minimal, compared to the number of lives that would be saved and the state government’s outreach campaigns for other pressing public health concerns.”

The latest state Health Department data shows 108 people have drowned at beaches in New York between 1987 and 2022, and 118 people have drowned in swimming pools.

The rate of drownings varies each year, due to weather and other factors.

Black males and females drown at significantly higher rates than their white or Hispanic counterparts, according to the department.

The state Health Department does not comment on pending legislation.