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The Coolest Pastime
Swim for Year-round, Lifetime Fitness
By Leigh Brown Perkins
If they weren't filled with water, you'd swear swimming pools were magnets. Kids are drawn to them like artwork to a refrigerator. That's why Eryn Grill of North Palm Beach, Fla., signed up her sons Collin and Trevor for swim lessons shortly after they learned to walk. "We have a pool in our backyard, and we were concerned about safety," she says.
The boys, now 9 and 6, are strong enough swimmers that they have jumped off their family's boat to snorkel in the Bahamas with their mom and dad, Don. "They even swam with nurse sharks," Grill says.
Most of the 368 million people who swim this year will not do so with sharks. But many first took up swimming to avoid a very real danger. Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related death for children.
With such sobering statistics, it's little wonder that parents are getting their kids into the swim of things at an early age. Carol How-Kentner, aquatics director at the Ambler YMCA in Pennsylvania, plans to enroll her son Logan in Mommy & Me classes before his 2nd birthday. "Starting young is paramount," says How-Kentner, who started at the Y as a volunteer when one of her friend's children drowned in a backyard pool.
Mommy & Me type classes introduce babies under 2 to splashing and bobbing, with the emphasis on play and bonding. Preschoolers in first-level classes learn to move their arms, kick their legs and float with adult support. Soon, they're blowing bubbles and learning not to swallow water as they do so.
"Our main goal is drowning prevention," says Kay Smiley, who oversees the national aquatic program for YMCA. She recommends beginning lessons at 6 months, with a parent. "But we want this to be more long-term for kids than just a two-week class," she says. "We want swimming to be a lifelong sport."
Jayme Kreitman of Charlotte, N.C., was a newspaper reporter and new mom when she researched Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) for a news story. She was so inspired that she quit journalism and became a swim instructor. Kreitman says her chance introduction to aquatic survival classes coincided with her pressing need to keep her 15-month-old, Eran, safe.
