No child is too young to learn swimming safety, instructors say

Tatiana Hernandez introduced her son to swimming when he was just three months old because she didn’t want him to become another drowning statistic.

“In South Florida it should be mandatory that all children should learn how to swim,” she said.

Florida routinely leads the nation with the number of drowning deaths among children aged 5 and younger, so the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the Baby Otter Swim School co-hosted an event Saturday at the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center to teach kids how to stay safe in the water.

Marlene Bloom started teaching very young children how to swim over 40 years ago when she was told her 2-year-old daughter was too young to learn.

“Kids were drowning under the age of 3,” she said. “So, I came up with this program.”

It’s called the Baby Otter method of Turn, Kick, Reach.

“In five days they learn how to hold their breath and put their face in the water, they learn to swim to the steps or the wall [of a pool],” she said. “On the last day, if they fall into the water, they learn how to turn around and get out.”

Macy Piazza, 2, and brother Michael, 1, took the swimming course at home in Port St. Lucie, but attended the event in Pompano Beach to stay in shape.

“It’s unbelievable,” said mother Melissa Piazza. “The fact that they are addicted to the water in just five days is just amazing.”

Among those in attendance was baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, who learned to swim in his 40s and is a Baby Otter ambassador. He started a chapter in the Chicago area, where he played ball for the Cubs.

Another athlete poolside was Layla Crehan, 13, of Pembroke Pines, a Special Olympics gold medalist who overcame more obstacles than most when it came to swimming.

“When I was little, my mother tried to find swimming lessons for me and my brother but people said because we were autistic we would never swim,” she said. “Thankfully they were wrong. Very wrong”

The Broward Sheriff’s Office contributed $10,000 from the Law Enforcement Trust Fund to sponsor swimming lessons for 40 kids who were pre-selected with the assistance of school resource officers and the Baby Otter Swim School as part of the Make Florida a Zero Drowning State campaign.

Sheriff Deputy Chief Gregory Holness had three drowning calls in one day during his career and said the program is not just about saving children. It can spare parents grief.

“The pain and the guilt that a parent feels lasts for a lifetime,” he said.

For more information log on to babyotterswimschool.com or call 888-794-6543.

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