Kings Island breaks record with World’s Largest Swim Lesson

Participants got in free to Soak City.
Kings Island Soak City Water Park participated in the World's Largest Swim Lesson on Thursday, June 23. CONTRIBUTED/KI

Kings Island Soak City Water Park participated in the World's Largest Swim Lesson on Thursday, June 23. CONTRIBUTED/KI

MASON — Kings Island is known for lots of fun and thrills but now it’s also known for helping set a world record.

Thursday, Kings Island’s Soak City Water Park participated in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson — an international record-breaking event.

Soak City had 200 visitors — all of which were admitted into the park for free — participate in the worldwide event.

The World’s Largest Swim Lesson event, which began in 2010, aims to build awareness about the importance of teaching kids how to swim to prevent drowning, per the event’s website.

“The organizers of the worldwide event’s mission is to help everyone understand that swimming is a life-saving skill,” Kings Island said in a statement. “And, it’s a vital tool in drowning prevention, the leading cause of unintended injury-related death throughout the world.

Hundreds of other aquatic centers, swim schools and water parks across the globe took part in the event, as well.

Soak City’s participation in the event isn’t the first water park in the Tri-State to attempt a world record.

Coney Island attempted to establish a new world record last week, but it ended in disaster compared to King’s Island.

In an attempt to set the world record for the most people down a water slide in 24 hours, Coney Island said it would remain open from noon on Friday, June 17 to 11:59 a.m. on Saturday, June 18.

Despite this, around 11 p.m. on Friday, the amusement and water park announced on social media it ended its world record attempt due to “over capacity issues at the park.”

The park has yet to say how many people actually went down the slide during the hours it was open, or if it will try to break the record at another point.

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