Olympic Swimmer Cullen Jones Teaches Mid-South Kids To Swim

(Memphis) From London to the Bluff City, Olympic Swimmer Cullen Jones stopped in Memphis to teach children how to swim.

Suited up and ready to take off, Memphis kids got a golden lesson in swimming from the Olympic Gold Medalist.

Kids like 6-year-old Leila Taylor, “He taught us to do the motorcycle game and we jumped off the edge, it was super fun.”

But it’s not just for fun.

More importantly, Jones wants kids to be safe.

At just 5 years old, the now swimming superstar, almost drowned at a water park with his family.

“I remember what it feels like to almost drown. When my lights were going out, I didn’t know what to do,” said Jones.

He doesn’t want that to happen to any other kid or their parents.

So, Since 2008, he’s teamed up with the Make A Splash Foundation to teach over a million children to swim.

Leila told us why that’s so important, “When you want to go in the deep end and you don`t know how to swim, you can drown and die.”

Which is a scary reality for minorities, where 7 out 10 African-American kids can’t swim.

” When I see 5 year olds it hits home for me. This happened to me when I was 5,” expressed Jones.

But the spunky 6-year-old is adamant, it won’t happen to her.

“Because Cullen Jones taught me to swim,” said Taylor.