Nearly half of Americans are afraid of swimming, says long-time swim instructor Dylan Qualls, and that is something that should be remedied. In his talk, Dylan will share why he believes it is so important for us all to learn how to swim in the deep end. After all, the lessons learned in the pool go well beyond the edge of the water. Dylan started swimming competitively at the age of four, for the McHenry Marlins Swim team. He would go on to become a captain on the McHenry High School swim team for both his Junior and Senior seasons. For the past two summers Dylan has worked as a swim lesson instructor for McHenry Parks and Recreation. He finds great joy in teaching kids the sport he loves so much. After Joining National Honors Society, a service based organization, Dylan found a new passion for serving his community. Just recently Dylan combined his two passions of service and swimming and he started a new program called Sunday Swim Lessons. Dylan hopes this will allow more kids, that would not have had the chance otherwise, to get into the sport of swimming.