Becky and Steve Chepokas founded The Miracles of Mitch Foundation in honor of their son, Mitch, who lost his battle with cancer. Mitch had noticed the financial strain cancer puts on families and asked his father to “pinky promise” he would do what he can to help those in need. True to there word, Becky and Steve discovered an avenue to help. They began what has become one of the nation’s largest children’s tri-athlons. Each participant sponsors another child battling cancer to offset their financial burdens and in effect races for those who can’t.

Foss Swim School has been involved since 2004 when Tony Schiller, Advisor and lead fund raiser for Miracles of Mitch, met a few of our tri-athletes Mike Waataja and Brett Lovaas. FOSS has been volunteering at this event to naturally help with the swimming portion. Our staff has donated their time to cheer on these remarkable young athletes and provide safety during their swim and guide them out of the water. This year Jasen Lasserud helped a little girl Brooke who entered the water at the start of the race and then froze in fear. By putting Brooke on the back, she rode through the swim portion while talking about puppies and the fun summer. Other teachers began a “turbo zone!” where they helped each swimmer near the end with a little pull through the turbo zone towards the end of their swim. In true fashion FOSS helped make the event safe and fun.

Thanks to all those who attended the first of two annual events at Lake Nokomis (Lake Anne coming up in August):

Ryan Olson – Chief of the Starting Horn (aka Trigger Happy)

Erik Bloom – Chief Age Group Water Launcher

Anthony Farah – Deep Water Safety Specialist Duo (waste deep)

Michael Kratochwill – Deep Water Safety Specialist Duo (knee deep)

Chad Erickson – Chief of the Entry Runway

Lorrie Hammer – Director of The Beach

Becky Carlson – Co- Director of the beach

Rachael Skoog – Runway Manager

Jasen Lasserud – Water Safety and Mood Manager

Michelle Linsmeyer – Head Cheerleader

Breana Ballweber – Honorable Mention

Gary DeVere – Splash Management – nobody was blinded by a splash under the eyelid, thanks Gary!

Stefan Rosenkoetter – Finishing Supervisor (aka Sandy Toes)

Molly Miller – In Charge of Crowd Control

Delilah Guertin – Queen of Shivering

Natalie Meschke – End Zone Referee

Danny Truong – Transition Specialist

Graham Robb – Best Hockey Hair

Most children under 5 are trained to drown, via poor instruction or improper use of flotation equipment.  A child can’t do the math.  At three with full lungs they will float 3 inches under the water in a vertical position.  With a lifejacket rated at 10 pounds of floatation they will float 4 inches above!  If they are not trained and given instruction without floats they will not understand that they are a negative 3 inches and must negotiate that through holding breath, special back floating positions, arm movements etc.

Three examples of how you teach a child how to drown:
 1. Conditioning children to jump into the water with lifejackets on, when they don’t know how to swim.

 2. Instructors and parents always holding and catching their children, not letting them understand the depth and their natural floating state.
 3. Use of shallow or zero depth pools, especially hot tubs, where the bench to a 3 foot deep tub is death trap.  A child can easily drown in 3 feet of water.

Innocent fun and play is still an educational arena for children.   Remember they don’t necessarily know the dangers since you are protecting them.   Explain why you are protecting them and how that keeps the play fun.

Messages on Dangers of Pools

1. For every one child that drowns 3 more have lifelong injuries, due to near drowning.
2. Diving into shallow pools can cause permanent spinal chord injuries.
3. Pool entrapment is a very real danger in every pool.  The person responsible for the pool can face serious consequences, including criminal charges.  Fingers, arms, belly’s long hair twisting in the drain.
4. Pools need to be secured and alarmed fenced, locked, at all times, in less time than it takes to boil water or answer the phone a young child can find their way back to the fun place (pool), jump in and drown.
5. Every pool and hot tub needs to have one person who has final responsibility for that facility and its safety.

 
Suction Sucks…
500 lbs is the amount of force needed to break the suction of a pool or spa drain.

Use your head, don’t go head first
Diving is a skill, only dive in water that is 11 feet or more
 
1…2…
Your toddler can count, can you?  Always makes sure there are two drains and the covers are secured.
 
 
Noisy is better
Drowning occurs quickly and silently.  A child can drown in a matter of seconds with no sound at all.

1. A child’s physiology means they need to learn to swim differently than an adult.  They have small hands and feet and a disproportionately large head to their body size.  
2. A child’s natural fear of the water can be removed through the use of floatation devices in deep water (3 feet or greater).  A parent or instructor must also teach children that if they jump into deep water that they must turn to the wall, rather than continually saving them.
3. When a child or adult enters the water fully clothed traditional swimming strokes can not be used.  Shoes, pants and coats reduce ones ability to swim by 90%.  It is important for programs to first teach backfloat and front swimming that is unaffected by clothing.
4. Parents need to realize that a child must be able to swim 400m of the front crawl to be considered the lowest level of swimming.  Virtually all people will experience ocean and lake swimming that will test this ability.   Most children will need 100 lessons and/or swim practices to reach this level.  A child should swim at least 20 minutes of each lesson.
5. The window of opportunity to teach a child to swim well begins to close at age 6 and is almost completely gone by 11 years.  Only 6-10% of the USA population can swim 400 yards of the crawl stroke with side breath.

Drowning is a silent event.  Most people think someone will yell and scream for help.  A child’s reflex is to look up and the hydrostatic pressure empties their lungs.  In an instant they have lost floatation and will sink to the bottom. On the small chance they make it to the surface they will not be able to call out.  Supervise with eyes not ears.

So this means for parents.  
a. A child should be taught to keep the air in the lungs by not looking up. This should be done through professional instruction.  All swim instructors who understand this reflex teach a “down face” and breathing techniques to not loose the air in their lungs.
 
b. Children should learn to turn and swim back to a wall or shallow water as their first response to entering the water.
 
c. After a few strokes back to the wall, a child should flip onto their back to breathe.  Never popping their head up.
 

I’ve had a couple of experiences with teaching fearful children, and I am always asked the same question: Why are they so afraid?

The truth is I don’t have an all-encompassing answer. There are a multitude of reasons for children to be afraid of the water, but so few of them can be communicated to adults because many of the children simply aren’t old enough to properly express themselves. Adults have a hard time translating emotions to words, imagine being a terrified child! Fear is a difficult emotion to work with at best, but it CAN be done! We just need to keep a few things in mind:

- Smile! Children pick up on emotion so quickly, it is imperative that teachers and parents alike maintain a positive exterior. The teacher is often as frightened as the child, the prospect of another bad experience is terrifying and it sends your heart racing. I once calculated my heart rate to be 130 beats per minute while teaching one of my scared kids. Even though we adults are also frightened and apprehensive, we must appear happy. The kids look to us to see what to do and how to act, we must set a good example.

- Help your child to learn to trust their instructor. Tell them that things are going to be okay, that their instructor is there to help them and to make sure that nothing bad happens. Trust is the most important thing to build upon when working with fear because without it even children who aren’t fearful won’t swim for us.

- Communicate. Time is a precious commodity at Foss and we do our best, but if you aren’t able to speak to your teacher long enough feel free to speak to the front desk or the Deck Assistant. They are our eyes and ears when we can’t be there for you, and they let us know when a parent needs more one-on-one time.

- Don’t give up! Perseverance is important in all walks of life. It is never too early to start teaching them about persevering, determination, and courage.

Children never cease to amaze me. They are funny and brave, they forget about the sad parts of their day so quickly, and they are quick to smile and laugh. As a teacher dealing with fear, we look for one moment that combines all of these qualities: the “I did it” moment. We continue to work with fearful children because there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing them stand on the island, hands waving to their parents, yelling,

“I did it! Did you see? I did it! Let’s swim again, all by myself!”

That one sentence brings tears to my eyes every time. I have found nothing else that is as uplifting as seeing such a triumph. We aspire to reach this moment, and with the help and guidance of parents and other instructors, it can be achieved.

We came across this and wanted to share.  It was featured in Dallas recently by a freind of ours who opereates Emler Swim Schools.

There is competing schools of thought on this topic. 

What are your thoughts? <http://cbs11tv.com/health/Swimming.Lessons.Kids.2.1083941.html>

The impact that children have on their instructors is huge. We take their faces home with us, reflecting over who cried, who triumphed, who overcame their fears. While most parents believe that we are simply teaching their children, few realize that their children are also teaching us.

My first session teaching at Foss Swim School was admittedly clumsy. Despite the month’s worth of training I completed I felt a little clueless. My lifetime’s worth of swimming did me no good when faced with a little boy who wouldn’t stop jumping on the island, or a little girl who was too frightened to keep her eyes in the water. The confidence that I had built up through 22 years of lessons, teams, and camps had been shattered by a mere 3 hour time span teaching the skill I thought I had known so well. 3 weeks in, however, a little girl named Alex spoke to me, not as her teacher, but as her friend.

“Miss Andrea, it’s okay, you don’t have to worry about me. Just stand next to me, okay?”

Her little smile brightened up the whole world, and it suddenly hit me: this wasn’t just about swimming. Foss was about more than that; it was about making the pool a whole new playground for kids. Alex was a uniquely gifted swimmer, she was quiet and cheerful. She listened intently as I stumbled through the story of Frank and Murray, not always understanding but always trying her best. Most importantly, she demonstrated the sort of patience that adults like me aspire to, she showed me how to simply be there.

Alex and the other children of my first session taught me how to turn the pool into another world. A world with acrobatic fish named Frank and Murray, giant pizzas made with anything you wanted on top, ice cream scoops of every flavor, and ceilings that were freshly painted every half hour.

I am now entering my fourth session at Foss, and I still take home the faces of my kids. But now, instead of worrying about what I did wrong, I smile over what each of my kids did right.  

Whenever I go out somewhere like Target, or out to eat, or just shopping in general, I almost always see someone that I know from my teaching jobs. Just two weeks ago I was filling up my cup at a Burger King, and who is right next to me…”Hi Ava’s mom!” I said, so she looks up and her face lights up with a smile when she recognizes who said hello. Occasionally I’ll eat at Target, and of course I run into people here! One time I had a kid recognize me as he and his mom were walking out the door, and he runs over with his hand in the air to get a high five from Mr. Erik.

It’s stories like these that give that sense of a reward from teaching a kid around age 3, and having them recognize you at age 10+ when your not in the water. When I teach I take it very seriously (in a very silly way) because not only are we teaching kids how to swim, but life lessons, and making impressions on these kids that WILL last a lifetime.

It is fair to say all of the families who take lessons here at Foss Swim School are looking to help keep their swimmer(s) safe. After all, we are the land of 10,000 lakes and probably even more ponds. If you are expecting that our lessons will by themselves safeguard you while out and about swimming then you’re only partially correct. It is statistically supported that swim lessons dramatically reduce the ever dreaded bad day in the water but you need to be aware of the differences between pools and lakes.

I may be stating the obvious but remember we are teaching our children water safety and communicating this to them is another part of the lesson.

Pools:

Our pools are controlled. We maintain the temperature at a very comfy 90 + degrees, strive for crystal clarity, have small class sizes which aide in safety in addition to results, we have an outstanding teacher in the water with your children, our lessons have a regulated time frame, and if you come up choking and sputtering you can probably stand up! All of these elements are fantastic for learning to swim. They ensure the ability to target developmental skills over a reasonably small distance. No wonder we have such great lessons!

Lakes:

Aside from them being wet they are virtually the opposite of what we offer. Lakes are colder, wind can create huge waves, you will find people enjoying their PWC, ski or wakeboard boats, kayaking, canoeing, and even kite surfing. The visibility is unpredictable and Eurasian Milfoil is making this worse. In some lakes by the end of the summer the visibility is less than one foot making it very difficult to see under water where the depth varies. It is also a lot more expected to wear a life jacket on and around the lake.

So, while you are taking swimming lessons (hopefully with us) please be reminded about the differences to ensure a safe and happy season in the swim. Talk to your children about the differences so they aren’t alarmed when they fall off the dock and come up saying “I can’t swim, I don’t have my goggles!” Help them connect the dots and swim safely. Take time at the beach to ask your swimmer “what are you learning in swim class?” It only takes a few minutes for them to realize how to put it all together. Ask them to teach you!

Here’s your assignment:

- Talk to your swimmer and TELL them to show you how far they can swim in a LAKE. Whatever the child can do in a confined pool, expect to at least cut that distance and endurance by about 50% to account for wind, waves, fear, cold water, disorientation, depth, etc.  Then…….tell your children that swimming in a LAKE is very different than a pool for the various reasons we’ve listed.

- Give your child a physical “MOM OR DAD SPOT” where they can always look and see you for comfort or confidence.  This eliminates the need for them to waste time or attention scanning the woods, beach, or crowd looking for you.

- Tell your child, “I will be watching you”.  It lends seriousness, confidence….and the known certainty that mom or dad knows where the boundaries are and they’re watching.

- Take breaks every 20 minutes……even if they’re going gangbusters and couldn’t be having more fun. Just 5 minutes to regroup.

Here’s your child’s assignment:

- Always tell an adult when you’re going in the water and WHERE

- Have your MOM or DAD buy a very COLORFUL BRIGHT swim suit so that you can be seen within a few feet under even murky water

- Whenever you start to feel tired or scared…….roll over onto your back and float, stand up, or get to the nearest dock to hold on, or crawl out.  Catch your breath and start again.

- Decide where you want to swim and how far you can go……tell your mom and dad, “I’m not going past the end of the dock”.  Say that three times to your mom or dad.

- If you start to drift past the farthest point you should be swimming…..don’t panic. You know how to swim!  Roll on your back and float or stand up for a few minutes and start over.

- If you are really in danger, too scared, or can’t breathe……..YELL as loud as you can for help and the words…FIRE.  More people respond to the word FIRE than then do HELP.

It may sound like a lot to do just to have fun but in practice it is only a few minutes of safety necessities that ensure a good time. The season of swimming is finally here in Minnesota. Take these few pointers to help create outstanding summer memories.