Infant Swimming Resource’s (ISR) Self-Rescue survival swimming program is near and dear to my heart. ISR is not your average "swimming lesson." These are aquatic survival lessons. Keiki as young as 6 months have the capability to learn aquatic survival techniques. Lessons are one-on-one and personalized to cater to your keiki. ISR is the safest and ONLY provider of comprehensive swimming and aquat
ic self-rescue. Here's my story:
My daughter, GG, was born March 2013. I've always had my daughter enrolled in some type of "swimming" class. At first, my concern was for her to become comfortable in the water. (Ends up that she has a natural love for the water.) Then, I wanted her to actually start to learn to swim. All these classes were group classes. I searched for one-on-one instructors, but came up short. The group classes were "fun" but GG wasn't really soaking anything in because there was way too much stimuli to concentrate on. GG started wearing floaties in the water (which I found out is big no-no) and we just figured eventually we'd try to get her more swimming lessons. Fast forward to August 2015, my family moved from DC to Hawaii. We vacationed at a resort before arriving on the island. They had a pool but we didn't have any floaties on hand to use. To my shock, GG still thought she could "swim" without them and it was double-duty trying to make sure she didn't try to jump into the pool without us. I mean, talk about a 2-yo on a mission. The pool became unenjoyable; she didn't even want me or my husband to hold her. She was determined that she could swim. After talking with an uncle in Florida who had my cousin enrolled in ISR, I sought out Auntie Aisha and registered GG for ISR lessons after immediately arriving on the island. It was amazing to see GG grow during her 6 weeks of lessons. It is amazing how babies/toddlers have a natural instinct to "float." You just need an ISR instructor to help them form the habit. GG was not a fan of the lessons at first. Due to the floaties, she had developed bad habits (i.e. very vertical when she was trying to float). After about 4 weeks, something just clicked with GG. It's like all of a sudden she realized she could do it...she could float on her back all by herself...she could flip over and swim a little and "get the wall." I still remember her coming out of the water with a HUGE smile! It was after that moment that I saw so many positive changes in her attitude at home, at the pool, and not to mention her rise in confidence to try new things. After 6 weeks, GG "graduated" and it was such a weight off my shoulders to know IF there was ever a situation where GG fell into a large water mass, she would be able to float/swim/float to the ledge and most likely be able to pull herself out. ISR has truly been a blessing for my family. Now we are to present day. We visit the pool often and GG swims back and forth from my husband and I with always a huge smile. Not to mention, she does NOT wear floaties. I won't lie either, she swims better at 2.5 years old than most of the keiki at the pool. The pool is enjoyable again; I would even say it is MORE enjoyable now that GG has graduated ISR. Why I became an Instructor:
I loved seeing GG grow through her lessons. I loved meeting and seeing the other students who saw Auntie Aisha grow and progress. I want to be able to give keiki the same confidence GG gained, and I want to take away a little weight off parents' shoulders like me. You can be a great parent, with great awareness of what is going on at all times; but it only takes one second. One second, one time, that your keiki can slip through the door to the outside pool and fall in. Maybe it is not on your watch, it could be on the babysitters, or at a function where there is a pool or even a situation where there is a bathtub full of water. It is very sad; but it is very much a possibility. ISR teaches your keiki an invaluable survival skill. So, it is more than taking some stress off parents and empowering confidence in your keiki... I do this to possibly save your keiki in the event of an unfortunate situation. Please seriously consider registering your keiki for ISR wherever you are. A keiki that starts off with ISR, will only grow to become a stronger swimmer as they get older. I like using the example of an older keiki who swims in the ocean. They don't realize it, but they get caught up in a current and have been pulled out from the shore too far. They become tired from swimming. This keiki was enrolled in ISR when they were younger. When they get tired, they have the skills to sustain a prolonged float on their back until they can be rescued or they are able to make it to shore. ISR has been a blessing to our family. I highly encourage you to register your keiki as soon as you can.
