Would-be paddlers spanning the globe took to chlorinated water Friday at 11 a.m. sharp in an organized effort to set a new record for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson.

Among them were more than two dozen children who converged on the YWCA on East Avenue to play their part in the hoped-for history-making event.

Girls donned flowered, striped and polka-dotted one-piece suits; boys sported colorful surfer trunks. Some had bubble belts strapped around their tiny waists.

The pool was unusually quiet as the seconds ticked toward No. 11 on a big wall clock.

Parents leaned in from their perches on the sidelines, cameras poised.

Head instructor Joyce Neeley stood in the shallow end of the pool, facing the eager children, running through a safety checklist.

Tens of thousands of children in pools around the world were expected to take part in the event aimed at preventing drownings. This was the fifth consecutive year of the event. Organizers have their sights set on a new Guinness World Record.

Drowning remains the leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children 5 years old and younger. It’s the second leading cause of accidental death for children under 14.

The standing record for The World’s Largest Swimming Lesson is 32,450 participants from 13 countries.

“We’re all doing it at the same time in different time zones,” said Lu Murphy, marketing coordinator at the YWCA.

Although the group offers lessons year round, Murphy stressed the importance of this time of year for water safety as many children venture out into pools, ponds, rivers and the ocean for the first time of the year or, maybe, the first time ever.

The organization offers lessons to all ages, from infants to swim team members. On Friday, the ages of the children ranged from 1 to 9, Murphy said. The free half-hour introductory lesson touched on all aspects of what students can learn about being in the water.

One of the onlooking parents, Matt Schreiber of Lisbon Falls, was watching Hannah, 9, Emily, 6, and Jacob, 5. Hannah is on one of the YWCA’s swim teams, Schreiber said. Emily and Jacob have taken lessons and swim “pretty well,” he said. The family has an inground pool at their house. They started swimming at age 3, he said.

Karen Westland of Lisbon sat in a poolside chair, her eyes never leaving the water. Her 8-year-old daughter, Emily, took part in the lesson below.

Emily, who has an aboveground pool at home, will start taking lessons here next week. She was excited to be part of the world record attempt, her mother said.

“She thinks it’s pretty awesome.”

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