squidkid.

I love teaching my Mommies-in-Motion class, or any infant swim class, for that matter, because it’s mostly about water introduction and having a good time. But I got to thinking about the differences between water exploration and water survival.

My curiosity lead me to this fascinating, if not controversial video put out by the Infant Swimming Resource (ISR). When you click on the link, you will go to the organization’s main site and see a re-enacted video about 11-month old Miles who falls into a pool wearing his jammies. Miles is able to roll onto his back, stabilize a float, and just relax, breath, and cry until help comes for five whole minutes. It showcases water survival skills can be learned by the very young, and in apparently 3 weeks.

It is actually incrediably amazing, and as a swim instructor who doesn’t specialize in this kind of water survival, I want to know more.

After reading through the ISR site, I can summarize for you from an instructor’s perspective what makes the concept work.

• A total focus & concentration on learning how to turn over onto the back and stabilizing the float without assistance.
• Frequent consistency — you must practice five days a week, 10 minutes at a time.
• Realistic survival skill expectations for age ability, both physical and psychological.
• Progressing to a “swim-float-swim” sequence to get to the side of the pool when ability appropriate.

I will venture to say babies automatically hold their breath in the water, conserving oxygen, so I left that step out. But consider you and your baby being confident and experienced in under water submersion an absolute necessary prerequisite.

There is definitely a difference between learning water survival skills and taking swimming lessons. It makes me want to become trained in IRS!