Building Water Confidence & Safety Across New York City

This summer, Rising Tide Effect completed one of our most impactful seasons yet, reaching more than 700 young people across New York City with free swim instruction, water safety education, and empowerment-based, joy-centered programming.

At The Rockaway Hotel and Ocean Park Apartments, our teams delivered trauma-informed lessons that helped families build confidence in the water, many for the first time.  At Swim Corps, 97 young people completed our workforce development program, which pays youth to learn to swim, gain professional development skills, and build a bridge into the local blue economy by introducing careers in lifeguarding, marine safety, and water-based work. This model continues to show how exposure, mentorship, and hands-on experience can transform both individual opportunity and community safety.

In addition to in-water programming and workforce development, our Water Wise public safety campaign significantly deepened our impact across the city. Using a strategic mix of digital media across mass transit, reaching routes from the most vulnerable and at-risk communities to the ocean beaches, the campaign achieved 48,314,045 impressions. Thanks to in-kind support, all July and August distribution ran at no cost. Targeted social media efforts reached priority zip codes across Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, generating more than 3.3 million ad plays, 20,000+ clicks, and engaging nearly 9,000 unique website visitors who sought out information about rip currents, bringing life-saving knowledge directly into the communities most at risk.

We also launched several community-wide initiatives, including our second annual Water Rescue Demo Day in partnership with FDNY, NYPD, and NYC Parks. More than 100 young people attended and watched real-time rescue simulations, robotics demonstrations, and Q&A sessions with first responders. It was an unforgettable experience that introduced young New Yorkers to future career pathways and celebrated the heroes who protect our shoreline. Meanwhile, our mermaid-led education session for P.S. 317 at The Rockaway Hotel reached an entire school in a single morning, using storytelling and visual engagement to teach essential water safety knowledge.

Thanks to your support, our programs are expanding access to swim skills, helping create future lifeguards and water safety ambassadors, and bringing water safety education to communities that have long been unable to access it. We look forward to sharing continued updates as we deepen our commitment to a safer, more water-confident New York City.

Water Wise: Respect the Rip - 3 R's on LinkNYC

Young people observing Water Rescue Demo Day

Swim Corps 2025 Group Photo