An Impact I’ll Never Forget
I’ll never forget the day that three little girls walked through our doors. One of them was sobbing, another was trembling as she tried to get into the water, and the third was trying to comfort her sisters while wearing the scaredest look on her face. Teaching Level 1 and Water Bug, I was used to seeing kids nervous for their first class or sad to be away from their parents, but something about this family felt different.
Later that day, Ms. Rosa told me that on a recent trip to the Keys, one of the girls, Delilah, had a non-fatal drowning incident and CPR had to be performed on her. Her two sisters had witnessed it, and as a result, all three girls developed a deep fear of the water.
From that moment on, Ms. Rosa and I worked week after week, we played cleanup, built princess castles, and made up games with the duckies to help them rebuild their confidence and feel safe in the water again. It took patience, encouragement, and celebrating every small step, but slowly, I watched their fear turn into confidence. Week by week, they began to gain trust in me when it came to the water, each week they pushed a little bit more. Whether it was putting their nose in the water or going four seconds under. It wasn’t just the girls that were happy mom and dad shed tears as they watched their daughters become confident in the water again.
Today, two of the girls are in Levels 2 and 3, and Delilah is in Advanced Water Bug. She can even roll over and float by herself. Seeing them bolt through the door more and more excited each week for their lesson truly made me realize just how much of an impact we truly have. We aren’t just teaching children how to swim, we are helping them overcome fear, rebuild confidence, and feel safe again. That experience reminded me why what we do at Ocaquatics matters so much.