May 27, 2004 -- With alarming drowning rates last summer in South Florida, and schools letting out soon, the phone lines are ringing off the hook for Yazmin Acocella, owner and instructor of South Miami/Kendall based Born 2 Swim Aquatic Academy and Scotty Launer and Brian Lilburn, co-owners and instructors of North Miami based AquaChild. Both schools offer an innovative aquatic enrichment program geared towards teaching children as young as 10 months, essential survival skills and swim instruction.

Founded on the premise of keeping children safe in and around the water, no matter what circumstance, Born 2 Swim and AquaChild differ drastically from other swim programs through the instruction, time and technique used in lessons. Lessons are short, lasting only 10 minutes each day, but continue for a duration of 4-6 weeks, depending on the child’s abilities. The technique, based on giving the child the ability to handle most types of emergency situations, focuses on the swim-float-swim sequence, where even the youngest infant acquires the skill to rotate onto his/her back and rest safely until ready to swim again. According to owners Acocella and Launer, “Most swim programs teach the child to either lift his/her head out of the water for air or swim back to the ledge of the pool. Both of these skills are useful, but only for a matter of minutes, as they cause the child to tire quickly. Floating on one’s back, however, allows the child to safely rest and gain air for an indefinite amount of time. It’s incredible to see some of our 1 year olds float for several minutes.”

In addition to teaching the skills, both locations also pose a variety of situations for children to learn how to handle each scenario, such as falling in from the side of the pool, the deep end and even swimming for an entire lesson fully clothed. “These lessons teach problem solving skills, foster independence and boost self-esteem,” Lilburn states.

Born 2 Swim Aquatic Academy is located at 3901 S.W. 117th Avenue covering the South Miami/Kendall area and AquaChild aquatic enrichment program is located at Mermaids Dive Center, 16604 N.W. 2nd Avenue in North Miami Beach. For more information please call 305-278-SWIM (7946)-Born 2 Swim or 786-553-4027-AquaChild. You may also log onto www.born2swim.net or www.aquachild.com.




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