06/26/2026
✨ “Coach Kylie, our last swim coach taught my child to lift their head up to breathe. Why don’t you?”
This is one of the questions I get asked most often!
💦 The simple answer? Because I prioritize efficient swimming, proper body position, and water safety.
When swimmers repeatedly lift their head straight up (“pop-up breathing”), their hips and legs naturally tend to sink. This interrupts their body alignment, creates more resistance in the water, and often makes swimming much more tiring—especially for young or beginner swimmers.
🤍 What I teach instead:
✔️ Roll-over breathing.
Rolling onto the back to take a breath helps swimmers maintain a longer, straighter body position while allowing them to breathe without fighting the water. As they build strength, confidence, and proper technique, we then progress to side breathing for freestyle.
My goal isn’t just to teach kids how to move through the water—it’s to teach them how to swim efficiently while conserving energy and building lifelong water confidence.
💡 Did you know?
One of the first survival skills I teach is how to comfortably float on the back. A child who can calmly roll over and float has a valuable survival skill that can buy precious time if they ever become tired or need help in the water.
Every coach has their own teaching style, and this is the method I choose because it builds strong technique, confidence, and safe swimming habits from the very beginning. 🩵🏊♀️