An Upper East Side swimmer with dreams of sharing her love of water with every child of the city has raised nearly $100,000 to expand free swim lessons in the Big Apple. Ali Wright’s Turning The Tide swim-a-thon is bigger than ever for its third year, as the determined 17-year-old strives to combat drownings that spiked in the five boroughs in recent years.

“I’ve taken it for granted to learn how to swim, and I think a lot of my friends have as well. You don’t realize that it’s a life-saving skill,” said Wright, a junior at the Nightingale-Bamford School.

At least 50 people have signed up to swim for this year’s swimming fundraiser, with Wright expecting that number to grow as the May 2 event inches closer.

Some paid a flat $50 minimum fee to participate, while others have pledged to raise at least $1 per lap that they swim during the 2-and-a-half-hour event — which means big bucks since some of Wright’s competitive teammates will be in the mix.

“Last year, the most [someone swam] was 300 laps. This year, I think he is planning to do 400. At least!” said Wright, 17, adding that she’s aiming to surpass the 100 laps of her own that she logged last year. 

The cash benefits Asphalt Green’s Waterproofing program, which offers free swim instruction to roughly 2,000 public school second-graders every year. 

The city Parks Department also offers free lessons to about 18,000 people through an annual lottery.

The $75,000 Wright raised at last year’s event meant the program was able to serve an additional 130 students that might not otherwise have been served by the program, which costs roughly $550 per swimmer to run.

The teen was impassioned to start her fundraiser in 2024 after learning that just one in four kids know how to swim in the Big Apple. That same summer, seven water-related deaths occurred at New York City beaches, marking the highest death toll in years.