08/15/2026
Hi everyone! I thought it was time to introduce myself a little more personally. ❤️ I’m Emily, the owner of Miss Emily’s Swim, and my story with water started long before this became a business.
In 2006, while I was pregnant with my daughter, I suffered a brain hemorrhage from a cerebral cavernous malformation. I later underwent brain surgery, and life afterward came with challenges I never expected. Healing was physical, emotional, and mental, and somewhere along the way, water became a huge part of that healing.
When I first started swimming with my daughter, I was about 70 pounds overweight, and I still remember standing there before getting into the pool and absolutely hysterically crying to my little sister saying I did not want to go out of the locker room, because I was so afraid of what people would think of my body. I was uncomfortable. I was embarrassed. I wanted to hide. I worried that everyone was looking at me and judging me. And guess what nobody noticed a thing.
And now? This picture is NOT AI. 😂 This is me.
Most people are used to seeing me in the water with sunglasses on, my hair pulled back in a ponytail, probably soaking wet and yelling swim instructions across the pool. 😂 But this is the real me too. No pool uniform, no hiding, no pretending.
My real body. My real life. My real story.
And at this point, I genuinely just don’t care anymore. It is what it is. This body has carried babies, survived a brain hemorrhage and brain surgery, along with 12 other surgeries, raised a family, built a business, gained weight, lost weight, changed over the years, and gotten me through some really hard things.
I’m done hiding it.
Swimming with my daughter eventually turned into something much bigger than I ever imagined. I began to understand just how powerful water could be, not only for learning to swim, but for confidence, movement, healing, independence, emotional regulation, and simply feeling free in your own body.
That became my passion, and eventually it became Miss Emily’s Swim.
Today, my mission in life goes far beyond teaching someone how to swim.
My mission is to help children, adults, and especially kids and individuals with disabilities understand that the water is for them, too.
I want every person, no matter their age, body, ability, diagnosis, fear, or circumstance, to have the opportunity to experience what water can do.
Water can create a place where a child who struggles on land discovers freedom of movement. It can help someone build strength and confidence. It can support recovery and mobility. The buoyancy of water reduces the load on our joints, while the resistance of the water allows us to strengthen our bodies in a lower impact environment. For many people, being in the water can also be calming and give them a sense of independence they may not experience elsewhere.
And above everything else, learning to be safe in the water can save your life.
I want children and adults with disabilities to know they belong in the water. They do not have to learn the same way as everybody else. They do not have to move the same way. They do not have to fit into somebody else’s idea of what a swimmer should look like.
Sometimes we just need somebody willing to meet us exactly where we are and help us discover what we CAN do.
There is actual science behind the benefits of aquatic exercise, but beyond all of the science, I’ve lived it.
Water gave me something when I needed it.
And now I want to give that back to as many people as I possibly can.
Water is healing.
Water is freedom.
Water is movement.
Water is confidence.
Water can be life changing.
And water safety can be life saving.
So if you are standing on the edge of a pool worried about your body, your scars, your age, your weight, your disability, what you look like in a swimsuit, or what somebody else might think…
GET IN THE WATER.
Your life is far too precious to spend it standing on the sidelines because you’re afraid someone might judge you.
Come as you are.
Swim. Move. Float. Learn. Heal. Live. ❤️🌊
That’s a little bit about me, a little bit about where Miss Emily’s Swim came from, and a whole lot about why I do what I do.
