Swim class teaches survival skills for infants and toddlers

CARROLLWOOD, Fla. - More young children drown in Hillsborough County than in any other county in the country.

It is a startling statistic, and it is just one of the many reasons parents sign their children up for swim lessons.

At just two years old, Preston Szponar can float, flip, and eventually get to the ledge of a pool. Preston's mom, Ashley, says the skills are essential.

"We have a pool at our house, so it was necessary to get him into swim classes as soon as we could," Ashley Szponar said.

Szponar found Michelle de Vahle, an Infant Swimming Resource instructor, who became a teacher after her own son struggled in the pool.

"My son, when he was younger, fell off a step in a pool and stared up at me and did nothing to help himself," de Vahle said.

A few years after her son could swim-float-swim, de Vahle, wanted to teach other children.

For four to six weeks, kids come to de Vahle for just 10 minute lessons five days a week.

"We're teaching self rescue," de Vahle said.

In Hillsborough County, a county, according to the Centers for Disease Control, that has the most infant deaths due to drowning, parents of children in I.S.R. classes, say survival skills cannot hurt.

"We live in Florida, there's either a lake or pond within 100 yards," Cathy Edwards said. "Not that it's a false sense of security, but it's reassuring that they can do their swim-float-swim rotation."

However, to some, teaching infants as young as six months old can seem extreme.

"Your child should be able to sit up on their own so they're nervous system is fully developed," de Vahle said. "But six months, too young, absolutely not."

Szponar agrees. Now that Preston has completed the program, she is anxious to get her new arrival in the water.

Before the kids pass the program, they have to be able to do the swim-float-swim moves in regular clothes. De Vahle says knowing how to swim fully clothed is important, because when children drown, they rarely fall into a pool with their bathing suit on.

To learn more about ISR classes. Go to: http://www.infantswim.com/