Photos: Hilltowns are in the Swim

Children who take swimming lessons have an 88-percent reduction in risk of drowning, according to a study from the National Institute of Health. This new Hilltown program stresses water safety.

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
Coming up for air: Instructor Sarah Tiffany, in background, asked her students — from left, Daniel O’Connell, Paisley Bunt, and Genevieve Marriner — to duck their heads under water. The kids obliged and came up gasping for air, and smiling. The free swimming lessons for Hilltown children were organized by the Knox Youth Council.

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
Floating on the water as if it were a bed, a beginner swimmer is safe in the arms of Bill Dergosits Tuesday evening in the inaugural learn-to-swim program hosted by the Knox Youth Council for Hilltown kids. Children who take swimming lessons have an 88-percent reduction in risk of drowning, according to a study from the National Institute of Health. The Hilltown program stresses water safety.

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
Signing on: Anna Lefkaditis, left, signs on for swimming lessons Tuesday as two organizers of the inaugural lessons, Molly Tiffany, center, and Anna’s mother, also Anna Lefkaditis, look on. The free lessons have been so well received that Tiffany anticipates they will become an annual event.

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
The joy of swimming is evident in the face of Bill Dergosits as he teaches Amelia Tiffany how to swim during free lessons he helped organize for Hilltown children. The week-long program is being held at Camp Lovejoy in Knox. The instructors and the high-school student aids are volunteers. The total program cost, according to one of its organizers, Molly Tiffany, is $1,200, which covers renting the pool and its facilities for $100 per day; paying lifeguards, and buying insurance. Amelia is Tiffany’s granddaughter and will start kindergarten at Berne-Knox-Westerlo in September.

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer
“Talk to the fish,” Cindy Mosbey instructs 8-year-old Emma Carey as she learns to swim in the free program hosted by the Knox Youth Council, held at Camp Lovejoy, the summer camp owned by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady, on Old Stage Road in Knox. Free swimming lessons haven’t been offered in the Hilltowns since Thacher Park’s pool closed over a dozen years ago.