Cynthia Longo

Dear Judy,

It was the middle of June, 2005. I took my boys, James, 5, and John, 3, to Union Reservoir in Longmont. They had not had any swim lessons nor had I taken them to any pool or reservoir before this summer.

We went with friends who had brought along several blow-up rafts. James decided to try one out. He did very well for awhile; floating along the shoreline while John was busy running all over the beach. I kept scanning my eyes from the beach to the lake; keeping watch over my children. As my eyes darted back and forth, I noticed that James was beginning to drift out into deeper water. I started walking toward him, talking to him as I made my way to where he was. I asked him to please turn around and come closer to me. Although he was trying, he could not get himself turned around. I was half way to him when he slipped off the raft and disappeared into the lake. He did not struggle at all; he went straight down. He came back up slightly and went down again, still not struggling. By the time he went down the second time, I was there to pull him up. I thank God I did not take my eyes off of him, or I would not have known where he was, in the deep, dark waters of the reservoir.

The very next day, I called you. Our neighbors’ children had taken your lessons, and I knew in my heart Infant Aquatics was the place to go. Besides learning how to swim, my children both needed survival skills, You told me that it might be difficult for me to watch the lessons, and I remember telling you that nothing could be worse than the images permanently etched in my brain of that day at the reservoir.

The first two weeks of lessons were tough on us all. John was upset because he saw his big brother so distraught and James was mastering the art of stalling. He would constantly interrupt Kyla, saying he had a question, or that he needed to tell her something. Kyla just kept talking to him calmly but firmly during his time with her; reassuring him she was right there. And after each lesson, I saw improvement from the day before. Both boys were proud of themselves and what they had accomplished in the pool; yet the anxiety of getting in the pool the next day still remained.

By the third week, James finally started to relax a little, and, therefore, so did John.. They were really getting the hang of swim, float, swim. During the next two weeks, I saw a big change in James’ overall attitude about swimming. He was gaining confidence and actually enjoying his lesson: swimming on his back like a “chicken, airplane, rocket” and diving for rings. He would ask if we could get there a little early so he could watch some other children swim. If he expressed worry over something Kyla asked him to do, Kyla would tell him, You can do it! You’re a good swimmer!” Her positive attitude helped move James forward through those hesitant times.

Starting the sixth week, we brought in the same float he was on at the reservoir and had him reenact the incident from weeks before. He kicked himself over to the 12 ft. end, slid off the float exactly as he had before, and came up floating on his back!

James and John are now eager participants in Fun Friday and can confidently ride on a float, slide off, and swim, float, swim! It has been a great joy, seeing them both slowly but surely overcome their anxieties and gain self esteem with their newly acquired swimming skills. I am particularly proud of James, who, after the reservoir incident said he never wanted to go into the “ocean” again.