Student organization at Penn giving free swim lessons to children with special needs

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Learning to swim can be a challenge for any child, even more so for those with special needs.

But a group of college students is changing that one stroke at a time through a nonprofit called SNUGS, giving free lessons to children who might otherwise have a tougher time conquering the water.

The coaches are University of Pennsylvania students and the little swimmers are children with special needs, from cerebral palsy to autism.

The nonprofit group Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons, better known as SNUGS, holds sessions every Sunday on campus.

The national nonprofit has almost a dozen chapters, founded by Kristen Sardis' family. The Penn alum founded the one here during the pandemic.

"I reached out, sent out mass emails with marketing materials, flyers explaining, what SNUGS is. We really didn't get up and running until Fall of my junior year," said Sardis. "Now we have almost 200 families as part of the program."

Lessons focus less on form, and more on basic water safety. Accidental drowning is one of the leading causes of death among special needs children.

While the lessons are free to families, the reward for the volunteers is priceless.

"To see how excited they are when they acquire a skill for the first time and to show their parents watching on the side line, it's incredibly rewarding and always brings a smile to my face as well," said Roene Nasar, a senior and co-president of SNUGS at the University of Pennsylvania.

For more information or to sign your child up for lessons, visit snugsnational.org