A group of aquatically inclined individuals want to keep New Yorkers safe from accidental drownings.

Last year, there was a spike in drownings in NYC compared to 2019. With summer on the horizon, the innovative organization is working hard to prevent further tragedies and ensure the safety of at-risk individuals in the water.

Former Division 1 swimmer, Kaitlin Krause founded the non-profit Rising Tide Effect in 2020 to provide access to water safety education and swimming instruction in the most underserved and at-risk communities. 

New Yorkers looking to unite around water safety and supporters of the org recently gathered at a private home downtown, where guests also included NYC’s First Deputy Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa and Shekar Krishnan, the Queens Council Member who chairs the Committee on Parks and Recreation.

At the gathering, Krause called the situation “a matter of life and death.”

“The water is something that everybody in this room has a connection with — but the reality is that most people don’t have that. That’s why it’s on us to bridge that gap and make sure access, safety, and joy in the water are possible for everyone,” she said.

The activist added of a new Rising Tide Effect video showing teens smiling in their Swim Corps program, surfing in the Rockaways: “Most of the participants in that video had never been in a pool before— and many had never even stepped foot on our ocean beaches… So when you see them out there surfing, for most, that’s their very first time in the ocean. We want to expose people to the water because the water is healing.”

“There’s a total lack of water safety education that is so apparent,” she said. “The reality is if you know what to avoid. If you can spot a rip current, and you know you’re going to die if you go into a rip current you’re not going to go for a swim. But it’s the risk recognition that our youth don’t have because they aren’t getting the information.”

This summer Rising Tide Effect is launching a new campaign, “Water Wise – Respect the Rip,” to be displayed on buses, subways and ferries to the city’s ocean beaches.

The organization started its first pilot program at the Rockaway Hotel. (Before the hotel was even finished, one of the owners, Michi Jigarjian of investment group 7G, was thinking about utilizing the pool to prevent drownings.)

“We were talking about the community needs… [and] the worst statistic in the Rockaways is the drowning rate, as we all know,” Jigarjian — Rising Tide Effect’s vice chair who’s also the founder of Work of Art Holdings — said at the downtown event. “We were the only operating pool at the time of our opening, and we utilized that pool in a pilot program. I couldn’t be more proud of this… and the progress that we’ve made.”

After that successful pilot program at the Rockaway Hotel — sponsored by the 7G Foundation and supported by the hotel owners, including Terence and Daniel Turbirdy — Rising Tide Effect now offers six programs across four locations serving youth from all boroughs.

Board chair Jon-Paul Rorech, explained, “We want to save lives. Death by drowning, accidental drowning is a horrific thing, and it’s happening in our community… it’s tragic. That’s our main goal — but in addition, our mission carries this idea of empowering, positive evolution.”

Rorech illustrated how drownings can happen when teens go to the beach after hours to swim in seaside communities after the lifeguards are gone, and “are willing to risk their life rather than admit to their friends that they don’t know how to swim.”

“Our program transforms that fear and shame, and turns it into joy, self-love and confidence,” he said.

The org will host a “Poolside Party at the Rockaway Hotel” fundraiser on June 13.  

Council Member Krishnan explained that in Jackson Heights, “We don’t have a single public pool” where locals can learn to swim.

He helped convince an area private school with a pool to open its doors and “to teach children how to swim and just be comfortable with the water,” which has been a success with the community. He is also pushing for further water safety legislation, he said. 

Attendees at the event also included former Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy executive director Nancy Webster,  Visionaire co-founder Cecilia Dean and Victoria Cerullo from the Climate Exchange.