Instructor Stories
A Word From Our Wonderful Swim Float Survive℠ Instructors!
The Survival Swim Development Network takes pride in providing superior instructor training to provide self-starting swim instructors with a gentle, child-centered approach that successfully teaches children how to Swim Float SurviveSM in the water. Please take a few minutes to read through our trainer stories to see why you should become a survival swim instructor!
The swimming lessons offered through this network are for children ages 6 months and up. The emphasis is on survival swimming with a gentle approach. The teachers guide the students through the program at the child’s pace. The lessons are one-on-one allowing for the best results.
LeAnne P.
Oklahoma City, OK
“When I was newly married, a 3-year-old little boy in our church drowned at a family get together near the lake. Everyone thought someone else was watching him. It was heartbreaking to witness.
A few years later, when I started having kids of my own…this story was never far from my mind. I put my toddler in 2 or 3 flotation devices any time we were around water. I had no idea that “Survival Swim Lessons” existed. I thought I was doing all that I could to keep my child safe, then 1 day, I saw a video online of a toddler falling into a pool and then turning over to float. My mind was blown!! I immediately started researching. Much to my dismay, there were no Survival style swim lessons offered in my area. As the months went by, myself and many mom friends were desperate to get our babies in this style of lessons. I finally decided to go for it and get certified in Survival Swimming.
I drove to Atlanta every week for 6 weeks and drove home on the weekends. I had 2 kids under 3 and was 6 months pregnant. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I knew I had to do this! 7 years and hundreds of students later, my mind is still blown every time I see a kid nail their back float for the first time or finally swim across the pool. It is so rewarding to see the daily progress that takes place in each lesson.
We have also been able to put our kids in private school, take regular family vacations, and become debt-free with the finances coming in through teaching swim lessons…FROM HOME!”
Camilla H.
Knoxville, TN
“When I realized that I could pair together two of my greatest joys in life, children, and water, I knew I had found my career. I’ve often reflected on how grateful I am to have found something that I truly love and am deeply passionate about so early in my life. This is genuinely a calling for me. Knowing I am making a difference in my community is something that gets me up every morning, all while giving me and my family flexibility and freedom. I started out teaching in backyard pools, then rented hotel pools, then rented fitness center pools and as of 2021, we now have our very own brick-and-mortar swim school with 35 employees. The greatest opportunity that the SSDN provides is the ability to grow your business your own way; small and simple or large and elaborate. Either way, you will be saving children’s lives and making your community a better place.”
Megan B.
Oklahoma City, OK
“My husband and I moved into a home on a canal when I was pregnant with my first child. Murky canal water and a toddler were a dangerous combination, and I knew immediately that my son would have to know how to float if he ever fell in that canal. I enrolled my son in survival swimming lessons when was fourteen months old, but soon after he learned his initial survival skills – how to roll on his back and float – his instructor moved. There wasn’t another instructor in our area.
I knew God was calling me to get certified. A few months later, I trained with the Survival Swim Development Network, completed my six-week instructor course, and started Survival Swim Corpus Christi in 2014. I have taught hundreds of kiddos the swim float survive℠ technique, including my daughter. Each child I teach holds a special place in my heart, and I am always overjoyed the first time they learn to float independently.
The swim float survive℠ technique saves lives. No matter how many precautions parents take, children can and do fall in the water unexpectedly. Both my children and several of my students have had to use their swim float survive℠ skills, and I thank God that I was able to help them. Falling into the water isn’t preventable, but, with swim survival techniques, drowning is. I feel so blessed to be able to teach children in my community these life-saving skills.”
Amy B.
Corpus Christi, TX
“I became a Survival Swim Instructor because it’s what I was called to do. The water is one of my favorite places to be. I was taught from a very early age how to respect, be safe, and love the water. I want everyone to be taught the same. I also have a son with autism and children with autism are drawn to water. It’s shiny, calm, and quiet under the water. Children with ASD are drawn to that, making them more susceptible to drowning at any age. I want to keep him and as many children with ASD from that fate. Not too many places can help children with special needs with swimming or they hike up the price. I want to help those families.
Being a Survival Swim Specialist has afforded me the freedom to teach around my son’s therapies, and create the schedule I want. It has given my family more financial freedom and it shows my own children that if you work hard and passionately enough, you can accomplish your dreams, do big things, and make a difference in the world. As of 2021, 39 children have successfully passed their Survival Test. I have had 5 parents come to me with stories of their children falling into the water (one in a creek) and using their survival swim knowledge and they saved themselves. It is truly the most challenging and rewarding gig I have ever had.
My father always told me to find something I love and build a career around it so I won’t feel like I’m working. So I did. I don’t work. I play. I am so incredibly blessed to wake up in the morning and spend my day teaching children to confidently trust themselves, help build their character, and most importantly, save themselves if they were to find themselves in the water alone. That’s a pretty great way to wake up every day.”
Heidi W.
Little Rock, AR
“I started looking into Survival Swim Lessons because I saw the need for an instructor in our area. At the time our youngest daughter didn’t know how to swim. I love the flexibility of being my own boss and making my own schedule. It’s very rewarding. I love when the children realize they can swim and have the confidence to survive in the water. Our business has grown and now my husband works with me. It’s such a gift!”