words by Kay Harris • photos by Jonathan Chick
The tiny toddler tiptoes to the edge of the large swimming pool and jumps in. The water is 5 feet deep and at barely 3 years old, she stands at a little more than 2 feet, so she is in way over her head.
Usually parents would panic, but not in this case. Sydney Jacobson has been swimming for more than a year and is perfectly at ease in the water. The 24-pound swimmer took to the water with ease, after some hesitation, thanks to Margie Herman and the survival swimming course she teaches through her business, Tiny Bubbles.
Sydney’s mother, Alyssa, says that bringing her to Tiny Bubbles was one of the best things she could have done.
“I grew up around water and we like to take vacations by the lake or near water, so it was important to me that she learn how to swim,” said Alyssa. “She cried the first time I brought her, but then she wanted to come back.”
When the Jacobsons went on a family vacation last year, Sydney had passed the initial six month survival skills program for infants and toddlers at Tiny Bubbles.
“She was 2 years old and she jumped right in the pool and started swimming. The lifeguards couldn’t believe this little thing was swimming so well,” Alyssa said.
Tiny Bubbles is located off St. Augustine Road in Valdosta in a former home with a large enclosed pool attached. The salt water pool is warmed to 87 to 89 degrees consistently as small children lose their body heat too fast and they need to be in a warm environment.
Margie Herman, owner of Tiny Bubbles, says it was very important to her to be able to teach young ones how to swim and she spent nearly a year learning the skills from Infant Aquatics in Atlanta. Tiny Bubbles is now one of only two centers in Georgia that teach the Infant Aquatics system.
“This is the most gratifying experience. The potential to save somebody’s life is there, and there are accidents all the time with small children falling into water and drowning,” Herman said. “The lessons have been proven to save lives and we have many parents who say these classes have prevented a tragedy from happening.”
Herman explains that the earlier a child is exposed to water, the better, as they don’t have a fear of it yet.
“At six months, we teach them how to roll over in the water. When a child falls, it’s usually face first, and little ones don’t have the neck muscles to lift their head out of the water. We teach them to flip over onto their backs, which is a skill they can use anywhere,” she said, adding that young children don’t know yet how to hold their breath.
“With the younger ones, it’s easier as they learn through repetition. Rolling over becomes a motor skill reaction for them.”
Instructor Sam Hoff is in the water, working with young Sydney, while instructor Shannon Eddy is at the opposite end of the pool, working with the Rogers siblings, McKenzie, 6, and Gehrig, 3.
Gehrig can be heard shouting out as he swims with the instructor, “Chicken, T, Soldier!” a chant taught by the instructors to teach the children how to move their arms in the water in the beginning stages of swimming techniques. The children mimic a chicken’s wings, then make a T-shape with their arms before bringing their arms back down like a soldier – the classic swim stroke.
“It builds upper body strength,” says Herman.
One of the most important aspects of learning at Tiny Bubbles, regardless of the child’s age, is that children learn to enjoy the water and be safe in it, not terrified.
“We don’t ‘throw them in’ and make them swim,” said Herman. “All that does is put them into panic mode and is traumatic for the child. We want to give them positive reinforcement without anxiety and they’ll always be safe.”
One of the tests at the end of the survival skills class is teaching a child what to do if they fall into water in their clothes.
Alyssa said instructors had her dress Sydney in heavy clothes, including a hooded sweatshirt, jeans, shoes, etc.
“They pushed her to the bottom of the pool in all her clothes and she swam right to the top!”
Alyssa and husband have another child on the way and “they will definitely be going through the program too.”
Once children finish the initial lessons, Tiny Bubbles also offers stroke lessons for older children to prepare them for being on a swim team.
Herman says she has taught more than 500 children to swim in the last seven years. The program runs year round, with five week survival sessions offered several times each year.
