Swimmers Take to Water to Beat World Record

Several area kids were involved in an attempt to set a record for the world's largest swimming lesson Tuesday at the . 

The kids, who are all enrolled in day camps at the center, normally have their swim lessons at the designated time for the record-setting attempt, around 10 a.m. So with aquatic manager Kyle Fefick heard about the program via an email from the American Red Cross, he figured why not participate. 

The World's Largest Swimming Lesson was designed to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim. More than 700 locations in 20 different countries and 48 states registered to take part in the attempt to set the Guinness World Record. It was estimated that more than 30,000 kids would participate across the world. The program's website stated drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death of children ages 1-14.

At the Jewish Community Center in Chesterfield, about 40 kids took part. Swim instructors taught the kids several stokes, helped them practice floating and more. Once the lessons were over, Jewish Community Center staff had to tally up the number of swimmers that took part. They sent that information to the Creve Coeur location of the Jewish Community Center, that would then follow the steps to get the results certified as part of the world-record breaking attempt.