What Swim Instructors Talk About at the Water Cooler
One of the best ways for a swim instructor and/or swim program to increase their reputation is to get together and swap teaching notes. When you have a more knowledgeable staff, you offer a more desirable service. Although every teacher’s method and personality is different, it’s important that swim instructors share the same “wave” length because ultimately swimming is a life-saving skill.
We sort of touched on that vital fact last night at a swim instructor meeting. We were deep in discussion about our new Swim Skill Levels that I shared with you. Atually, we were more like bickering about small stuff. Like whether or not a child’s kicks should be corrected in Level 2 or not until Level 3, or when the butterfly should be introduced.
One of our great JCC instructors, Alex, interrupted the conversation and in a new tone of voice said: “You know, what we do is huge. We are teaching kids how to be safe in the water. Think about that. Teaching swimming is teaching a life-saving skill.”
We did think about that. I feel a great sense of responsibility for what I am doing.
Swimming in huge. Earlier, Alex had shared a memory when he was a little boy where he almost witnessed a good friend drown in front of his parents and parent’s friends. It was a pool party, and all the adult’s backs were to the pool. Alex watched his friend quietly jump in the water and could only see the top of his head bobbing. Alex shyly poked the kids’ father and told him their son was in the pool and we wasn’t sure if that was okay.
When I was a kid, I remember swimming in a huge, 50-meter public pool and a kid jumping on top of me and holding my down for fun. The kid didn’t mean to scare me, but he did, and no matter my protesting he continued to play rough with me so I had to kick and push to get away. I wrote about why it is okay to do this here. I had to have been about 9 years old.
Another instructor, Kathy, has a scar on her chin where she jumped from the side of the pool and hit the edge. Tami, our Splash! teacher of 20-plus years, remembers her story. And Casey hers. And Kim. We remember our own personal water trauma experiences. (I wrote about the different between water trauma and water fears here.)
Swimming is a memorable experience. The best thing we can do as parents and instructors is for everyone to be on the same page and reinforce the same messages to our kids about the importance of being safe in the water.
