Child swimming lessons instructor & drowning prevention expert: Mindy York
Mindy York
Mindy York became involved with the Turn, Kick, Reach Swimming Program after her daughter nearly drowned.Mindy was forced to use CPR to save her 17-month old who was at the bottom of a pool. Prior to the traumatic event, Mindy’s friend, Marlene Bloom had been encouraging Mindy to sign up her daughter for infant swimming lessons.
After the accident, Mindy called Marlene to enroll her daughter for swimming lessons as soon as possible.
“After experiencing what TKR Program could do for my daughter’s safety and my peace of mind, I knew it was my mission to save lives by working with Marlene to bring the Turn, Kick, Reach program to the world.”-Mindy York
Those first swimming lessons, side-by-side with her daughter, marked the beginning of an 18-year commitment with Turn, Kick, Reach swimming programs. Mindy joined as a trainer and at Baby Otter Swim School , is active in the Children’s Safety Network of South Florida, and is a member of the National Swim School Association.
The Otter Baby Infant Program is an introduction to the water with a parent. The baby becomes familiar with the pool steps and wall, and plays different water-safety games. This class meets once a week for eight weeks.
Turn, Kick, Reach is a five consecutive day program taught to children, as young as ten months, what to do if they fell into the water. They learn to hold their breath and put their face in the water; swim to the steps and wall by kicking and MOST IMPORTANT, to turn around and swim back to where they fell into the water.
Mindy and Marlene regularly hold water safety seminars for children, parents, educators and administrators. They have also created a child swimming safety DVD, titled “Ten Minutes for Life”, and been telecast on local news stations to make the community aware of water safety for all ages. Newspaper articles have also been written to make parents aware of using layers of protection when it comes to water safety. Both Marlene and Mindy will be regular contributors to the swim school blog.
Marlene’s passion for teaching parents and kids about swimming started after she taught her 18 month year old daughter a water survival program, known as the turn, kick reach swimming program.
“My daughter had no fear of the water, and at the age of 18 months loved to just walk into the pool. Since she had no water skills, I would have to go in after her. I tried to find someone to teach her to swim, because I was only taught to teach from the ages three and up. But I could not find anyone to teach her so I spent the summer experimenting with my friend’s children and came up with this five-day water survival program. The Turn, Kick, Reach Swimming program has been successfully teaching children for over twenty-seven years.”-Marlene Bloom
Marlene’s credentials:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Florida Atlantic University.
- Masters degree in administration at Nova Southeastern University.
Marlene lives in Florida and has two children and six grandchildren who have all learned The Turn, Kick, Reach Swimming Program! Marlene will be a regular contributor to the kids swim safety blog.
