The city of Surprise Parks and Recreation Department and the Michael Phelps Foundation teamed up this summer to teach children ages 6-12 about water safety, conduct swim lessons and teach overall life skills to include hygiene, diet, confidence building and life goals.

The Michael Phelps Foundation's IM Program teaches participants to be safe in and around water, advance their swimming skills, set and attain personal goals and to have good overall health.

IM stands for I am safe, I am fun, I am fast, I am healthy and I am successful.

This program met on Saturdays for eight weeks and incorporated swim classes and health lessons for a total of one hour. A total of 54 Surprise residents participated in these free classes at Hollyhock Pool.

The city thanks the Michael Phelps Foundation for choosing Surprise as one of its locations to offer such a program and looks forward to hosting classes again next year.

For information about the program or how to register for a class, contact the Parks & Recreation Office at 623-222-2000 or visit surpriseaz.gov/aquatics.