Water skill keeps Oklahoma City, Tulsa kids from harm
Doctor develops Infant Swimming Resource Technique after child drowns
BY JOHN A. WILLIAMS
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Published: March 30, 2009
A video of an infant falling face-down into a swimming pool and easily rolling onto his back convinced Brandi Ylla that her daughters, ages 1 and 3, needed to learn the technique.
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For more information on the Infant Swimming Resource technique, go to infantswim.com.
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"¥Video
Look for "Today’s Paper” to see an infant fall into a swimming pool and turn on
his back to float to safety.
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"I showed this to my husband, and we both agreed we would pay any amount of money for our girls to learn this,” the
Oklahoma City mother said.
Ylla not only enrolled her girls in a class to learn the Infant Swimming Resource technique, but she also became a certified instructor.
Dr. Harvey Barnett of
Winter Park,
Fla., developed the technique after a neighborhood child drowned.
Louise Birdsell, a certified instructor from
Edmond, said she enrolled her two boys, ages 2 and 4, in a class after seeing the same video.
"I couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I pursued getting certified,” Birdsell said. "I spent six weeks in
Arizona to learn how to show others.”
Lessons are 10 minutes each, five days a week and can take up to six weeks to complete.
The cost is $85 a week.
"It’s the repetition and consistency that helps these children acquire these skills,” Birdsell said.
Infants 6 to 12 months old learn to hold their breath under water, roll onto their backs and float.
Children 1 to 6 years old learn to swim with their head down and eyes open, roll on their backs to float, rest and roll over again to swim to the side of the pool.
Ylla cautions there is no substitute for adult supervision.
"We’re not saying we’re drown-proofing your child,” Ylla said. "But if my girls fell in, I’m going to find them outside the pool because they are going to be able to get themselves out.”
There are three certified instructors in the Oklahoma City metro area and one in
Tulsa. Birdsell will begin classes in June, and Ylla will start lessons in May.
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