Clayton Shaw Park Aims for Guinness World Record Tuesday

The Clayton-Shaw Park aquatics staff is doing its part to help break the Guinness World Record for the largest individual swim lesson.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

"Our plans are holding it outdoors at the Shaw Park pool, but if it's 70 degrees or below, we will go indoors at the Center of Clayton,” said Chris Cholley, assistant aquatic supervisor of parks and recreation for the City of Clayton.

The parks department has been taking advance registrations and currently expects 30 or so participants ages 3-14.

Organizers will take walk-in participants tomorrow morning. The pool deck will open at 9:15 a.m. either at Shaw Park or the Center of Clayton for registration, a free breakfast and instructions.

“We are part of a program where lessons will be given around the world simultaneously on two continents. We are lucky to be in the time zone where it will be 10 in the morning,” Cholley said.

Last year, the program was launched during the school year and attendance was light.

“If the weather is hot and dry, we’ll get more taking part,” Cholley said.

Nine instructors and two supervisors are standing by to give the introductory lessons. These instructors are all Water Safety Instructors, (WSI), certified by the American Red Cross. They will first do skills assessments, followed by instruction for introductory strokes.

A judge will be on site to certify the exact count of participants, and they will feed the information worldwide to see if a record has been broken. That would be in the range of more than 30,000 people worldwide.

“We’re doing our part. We think we will break that record,” Cholley said.

Organizers will determine the location by 8 a.m. That information will be on the hotlines:

• Manager, Shaw Park: 314-290-8591
• Swim hotline: 314-290-8592
• Center of Clayton 314-290-8500

The event website is: www.worldslargestswimlesson.org.