World Record?

You never know when something you do will go down in history.

Except when you're trying. Then you hope -- at a minimum -- you are earning your 15 minutes of fame.

Carter took the plunge today to possibly make history. He and more than 70 others at the Iola-Scandinavia Fitness and Aquatic Center were part of an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest swimming lesson.

The inaugural event in 2010 established the record with 20,000 participants representing 13 countries and 45 U.S. states. Water parks and public pools all around the country were simultaneously hosting the event today in an attempt to break the record while teaching swimming skills and raising awareness about drowning hazards.

For ages one to 14, Carter's age, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death. What a scary thought.

I grew up across the road from a lake so swimming was a just a natural thing -- with some lessons, of course. Eventually, I was a lifeguard for a few summers, too, when I was a camp counselor. I was and continue to be surprised when I come across adults who cannot swim. Maybe they never needed to or never planned to jump in a lake or hop on board a boat. 

Of course, we're a bit biased living in states with more than 10,000 lakes! It almost seems a necessity.

I am glad we had Carter take swimming lessons all along. Doesn't mean he's going to be lifeguarding or joining any competitive swim team, but he enjoys it. (Sometimes we have to just let them have fun and not tell them it's good exercise, too, right?)

There's no word on when Guinness will rule on today's record attempt. But you can be sure you'll be the first, well second or third, to know!