True story: being part of a legacy of teaching children to swim (7 members of my family have instructed in the free community program started by my grandmother 50+ years ago) is one of quiet satisfaction.
https://twitter.com/kcmunoz_/status/1407052639133704195
Small country town in Australia - we taught hundreds of kids starting at 14 months of age. Did a deal with the town council - we teach for free if you let the kids & parents into the pool complex for free. I started helping as a small kid exemplar & by 18, I ran the program.
While some of those kids went onto become competitive swimmers at state and national level, that wasn’t the point, nor is it what I am most grateful for. I know we helped reduce the risk of drowning. We gave those kids a life preserving skill.
The program started because my grandparents had 4 girls they were teaching and their friends just kept appearing. My grandmother had almost drowned twice as a child and she had worked hard to overcome a fear of water. Those girls then became instructors as teenagers and so on.
My youngest brother and sister learned to swim before they could walk (because farm dams are bloody dangerous and my mum doesn’t have eyes in the back of her head) using Laurie Lawrence’s baby swim (can start simple techniques during bath time at 6 weeks).
We didn’t have much growing up, but this, learning to swim, teaching swimming, was a gift my family could give our community.
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