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Infant Swim Resource teaches babies, children water survival skills

Posted at 1:30 AM, Jul 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-25 04:30:29-04

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — For many, summer means swim lessons. But Angela Champion is teaching survival.

“Swim lessons teaches them how to get comfortable with the water and in itself that kind of makes me nervous because the water is a very unforgiving environment,” said Champion.

Unsettling statistics show that drowning is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 4 years old. Officials say, since 2014, about five children die by drowning every year in Kern County.

“We teach them how to be comfortable in the water but before they get to that point they learn their survival skills. That is the big difference,” said Champion. “We teach children how to go from face down swimming position to roll back and float and be able to catch a breath.”

Champion has been teaching Infant Swim Resource for 15 years. She says she will never forget the first time she saw the skills being taught to a baby.

“I look over and I see this baby floating and she was nine months old. So I went and talked with the instructor and I was like what is this I have never seen this,” said Champion. “She told me about infant swimming resource. And that’s just when I was hooked. I could not believe that children that young could learn such an amazing skill.”

This summer, she’s the only instructor in Kern County to offer ISR lessons to new students.

For more information on ISR, click here.

To sign up for lessons in Northwest Bakersfield, contact Angela Champion at a.champion@infantswim.com. The last day to sign up for lessons this summer with Champion is Monday, July 29.

Lessons for babies between 6 and 12 months last 4-6 weeks; for children older than 12 months last 6-8 weeks.

For more information on becoming an ISR instructor, click here.