marisa karai wants to change this. she's the first african-american woman to make the u.s.meter relay race. >> i had been involved with swimming for so many years and i'm here to give back to the community. i'm here at the mount vernon ymca. we are inviting children of all ages to come in and hang out with me and get to know me a little bit and also just to be educated on being safe around the water. >> the statistics are alarming. ten people drown every day in the united states. it's the second leading cause of death for children under 14. unfortunately, 60 to 70% of black children and hispanic children don't know how to swim, making them three times more likely to drown. >> on top of that, if parent doesn't know how to swim there's a pretty good statistic you're not going -- your child isn't going to learn how to swim either. >> but make a splash is the big push in 47 states. their goal is to get kids prepared for the water and summertime fun. >> there are three main barriers that stops a lot of kids from swimming. the number one is fear. whether it's a generational thing