Why It Started

I've been a competitive swimmer for as long as I can remember — training through early mornings and participating in international competitions. Over time, I realized that although swimming is an individual sport on paper, the teammates and coaches that I have bonded with throughout the years mean much more than the medals I've won. The person in the next lane matters as much as your own performance, and that sense of shared effort shaped how I treated swimming. When I was 12, I took part in an event called "Swim For Love", raising funds for underprivileged children in China. It was a simple event that parents had organized, but it was the first time I understood that the skill we practiced every morning could be a bridge to something bigger. The same sense of community and shared purpose in our everyday training can drive us toward something that truly matters.

My first instinct was to teach kids to swim. But the more I thought about it, I realized that even people who can swim drown: because they panic, because they don't know how to read water, because no one ever taught them what to do when things go wrong. This is why drowning is one of the leading causes of death in children worldwide, disproportionately taking the lives of kids in rural and underserved communities — children who already face educational gaps, and for whom water safety knowledge is simply never taught. In the context of water safety, knowledge matters even more than swimming ability.

Life Afloat is built on a simple belief: that quality water safety knowledge should reach every child, regardless of where they grow up. Every single member of our team shows up because they share that belief.

As high school students, we cannot travel to partner schools every few weeks — so Life Afloat operates as an entirely online platform, delivering water safety education and resources to classrooms across China, Japan, and South America via Zoom, reaching underserved communities consistently and at scale.

"Lessons that teach children to swim or float do not 'drown-proof' children at any age. Water competence means having the cognitive skills to navigate aquatic environments safely."