the gist

As an educator, I believe every child is unique. Therefore, in the pool, each child I teach has their own individual lesson plan. The end in mind is the same: for each child to learn a safe entry into the pool, swim safely using a "swim, float, swim" sequence and exit the pool independently. This is possible for every child when a highly-trained, experienced instructor delivers a customized plan. My style of teaching focuses on the most important person in your world: your child.

I work with a large variety of swim students. From two-year olds experiencing water for the first time to middle school age swimmers who are working on perfecting their strokes. I have taught both neurotypical children and those with varying neurological exceptions. Because of this, I like to know how each child is developing outside the pool before beginning lessons. This provides insight to their capabilities in the pool. For example, a child that is heading to kindergarten, can follow three-step directions independently, and had quality prior swim instruction would be ready to learn how to breath bilaterally. I call this technique "breathing in the hole." Some kindergarten age children however, are not ready for this technique and require consistent "swim, float, swim" breathing. My strongest belief about children being around water of any kind, is that nothing matters more than keeping a watchful eye on them. Nothing replaces your eyes!

swim, float, swim

For brand new swimmers, a swim-float-swim skill set will be taught. This consists of rolling over onto the back to breathe, flipping over to swim a short distance, then rolling back onto the back and repeating this sequence until the student either attains the edge or shore, or is rescued. Swim-float-swim is the most effective way to teach children how to be safe in the water, no matter the setting. By teaching this way, the focus is shifted from learning how to be in a pool to safely maneuvering in any kind of water.

The videos below display the two phases of teaching the swim-float-swim technique.

Here, Brayden shows how to swim, roll and then rest on his back. Before children learn swim-float-swim, I teach them the importance of floating and resting on their back. It is essential that children know that resting on their back is the best way to catch their breath, regain energy and signal to an adult if they need help. Brayden floats all the way to wall where is he able to roll back over to grab the wall and get out of the pool.

I have Brayden jump from the side of the pool in this clip so he becomes familiar with how to regain control of his body when transitioning between land and water. By practicing jumping in from the side of the pool, students learn that when playing in water it is safest to jump away from the wall and into deep waters.

SWIm - Roll - Rest

SWIm - FLOAT - SWIM

In this clip, Alexa shows how to use the swim-float-swim technique. After entering the water, Alexa swims for a bit before rolling over, kicking on her back and then rolling back onto her belly to continue swimming to the wall. This style of swimming is more advanced than the swim-roll-rest technique but still emphasizes the importance of being able to roll from frontal to supine.

This technique is effective in improving a child's awareness of where they are in the water. By alternating between frontal and supine, the child can see how close they are to the edge of water while also being able to breathe and rest between swims.