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Aquatic Advice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Cartoon of a fisherman in red plaid flannel shirt,and blue jeans is tangled in his fishing line and falling from a river bank into a churning river. His tackle box is on the bank, and a frog falls into the river with him. The poster caption reads, "Lean to swim—while you still have a chance." Logo of US Army Corps of Engineers.

National Learn to Swim Day

The third Saturday in May has been observed as National Learn to Swim Day every year since its founding in 2012 by SwimWays Corp., a manufacturer of pool toys and other recreational water sports products. Learn to Swim Day provides an opportunity for everyone to learn this crucial skill before the summer swim season gets started on Memorial Day. There are several reasons to learn to swim:

  • Learning to swim saves lives. According to a 2019 Swimways news release, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 4, and the second leading cause of death for children under 14. 
  • Learning to swim is fun. Water sports, as long as they are performed safely and responsibly, provide an opportunity for families and friends to connect, relax, and entertain themselves.
  • Learning to swim is good for your mind and body. It improves a child’s self-confidence and can even aid in the development of mathematical skills, help develop oral expression, and boost children’s social skills. Regular swimming is an excellent low-impact exercise for people of all ages. According to the Cleveland Clinic, swimming strengthens the heart and lungs, aids in weight loss by burning calories, builds muscles faster than running or biking, keeps your mind sharp, reduces stress, and helps treat anxiety and depression. It also helps stave off the physical and mental declines brought on by aging.   

You can celebrate Learn to Swim Day by local events, teaching your children to swim at home or at a community pool, or enrolling them in swim lessons at a local facility. And don’t forget to enroll yourself in swimming lessons if you haven’t learned how to swim yet!

Flamingo standing on one leg with water rippling out from its leg. Flamingo is white with blue details and stands against a red background. Caption reads, "Before You Wade In, Learn to Swim. Your Safety, Our Concern.  A purple water buffalo wearing an orange life jacket against a blue background. Caption reads, "Don't Let The Water Buffalo You. Learn To Swim. Your Safety, Our Concern.   A yellow giraffe sticks its head up out of a green body of water with a blue sky in the background. Caption reads, "Keep Your Head Above Water. Learn to Swim. Your Safety, Our Concern.

USACE Water Safety Campaigns

Decades before National Learn to Swim Day was a thing, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) launched a series of water safety campaigns that continue to this day. Lakes and parks created by the USACE have been popular venues for water-skiing, boating, fishing, diving, and swimming since 1944.

During the mid-1970’s, the Chief of Engineers noted that nearly 500 lives had been lost at Corps lakes and waterways in a single year. Recognizing the need to improve public safety in Corps recreation areas, he issued the first official directive for the Corps to amplify their water safety education efforts, and in 1986 the USACE’s National Water Safety Program began.

Starting in 1986, the USACE started promoting water safety through a campaign using the slogan “Your Safety—Our Concern.” This campaign was the source of many of the colorful “Learn to Swim” posters seen on this page.

More recent water safety campaigns include the Bobber the Water Safety Dog campaign, marketed toward children, and the “Life Jackets Worn . . . Nobody Mourns” campaign encouraging the wearing of life jackets.  

Black-and-white poster: Left panel reads "The First Rule of Water Safety: Learn to Swim" with US Army Corps of Engineers logo; right panel shows a woman teaching four children to swim in a pool while a duck floats by.

Denton Opportunities to Learn to Swim

The City of Denton provides several opportunities for swimming lessons. You can find many opportunities for swim classes as well as private swimming lessons in the Parks and Recreation Department’s Registration Catalog.

An illustration of a hand reaching desperately out of the water near an inflatable raft, with the text: "Learn to Swim. Beach Toys Won't Save You! Your Safety Our Concern."

More Water Safety Posters

Water safety includes far more than just learning to swim. You find a fuller list of water safety tips at the USACE Headquarters website.

Here are some more USACE posters promoting other principles of water safety (U.S. government poster images courtesy of ScholarWorks @ CWU, the institutional repository for Central Washington University):

Life Jacket/Personal Flotation Device (P.F.D.) Posters

A person wearing an orange life jacket and standing in waist-deep water secures a buckle. The poster headline reads "Click!" with "Your Safety, Our Concern" below. Safety-focused tone.

Do You Want to Know More?

We have hard copies of many of these posters available at Sycamore Library. See our Government Posters and Prints subject guide for more government posters.

We invite you to visit Sycamore Library at the UNT Denton campus. Here you can explore the Government Publications housed in Sycamore Library, as well as other collections such as the Juvenile Collection, the business, political science, and law collections, and our collection of historic maps and posters. After you leave, you can explore our Digital Collections and Subject Guides from the comfort of your home or dorm room.

If you need assistance finding or using government information, please visit the Service Desk in the Sycamore Library during regular hours, contact us by phone at (940) 565-2194, or send a request to govinfo@unt.edu. To request a research consultation or in-depth assistance, we recommend that you E-mail or call us to make an appointment with a member of our staff.

Article by Bobby Griffith.

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