PERRYSVILLE — Kym Cragel knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she turned a child away and then something horrible happened to him or her.
That’s why the Toledo resident has devoted much of her time to providing Infant Swimming Resource lessons to children throughout northern Ohio. Just recently, she and fellow ISR instructor, Annette Lazenby, also of Toledo, traveled to Richland County to teach 28 children life-saving swimming skills at Mohican Lodge pool.
They were encouraged to come to the area by Bellville resident Ashley Bowers, whose daughter had gone through the ISR program.
“My husband and I saw amazing results with her and what she learned and we knew it was something we would want to do with our future children as well,” she said.
When their son turned one, Ashley started searching for ISR lessons, but discovered there weren’t any instructors within an hour of Richland County.
She reached out to instructors all over the state, hoping they’d be willing to make the drive, and finally connected with Cragel and Lazenby who obliged.
Cragel and Lazenby formed GR8 Lakes Swim Babies and serve families throughout northwest Ohio and beyond. Based in Toledo, they became certified ISR instructors in 2017 after each completed an intensive training program that included over 300 hours of hands-on training with an ISR master instructor.
Cragel, a sport psychology consultant, has taught traditional swim lessons for about 20 years. After observing an ISR lesson, her interest was piqued.
“I watched a little 9-month-old with this instructor, and I thought, ‘I have to learn how to do that,'” she said.
Seeing that there weren’t any full-time ISR instructors in the Toledo area at the time, Cragel knew she wanted to help fill the void. Her first session last April included about eight children. By June, she was teaching 55 youngsters a day.
“It blew up,” she said. “The demand was just so huge.”
ISR lessons were developed over 50 years ago by doctors and researchers to teach young children aged six months through six years how to survival swim.
“We teach them through sensory motor learning, so it’s different than any other lesson,” Cragel said.
Unlike traditional swim lessons, ISR lessons are always one-to-one and last for just 10 minutes for an average of 30 lessons. The goal is for students to build muscle memory, competence and confidence in the water.
“Anyone who has put their child through this program would agree that the lessons will amaze you. They really work,” Bowers said. “What children are able to learn at such a young age is amazing.
“Our two-and-a-half-year-old son completed the program this winter and my five-year-old daughter went back for a two-week refresher course to perfect her ‘starfish’ float. They are both now able to self rescue if they happen to find themselves in water.”
Through the ISR program, children learn how to hold their breath as they swim underwater, maintain a stable float and perform a swim, float, swim sequence in order to reach safety should they find themselves in the water unsupervised.
“We prepare the children,” Cragel said. “They even wear clothing in the pool before graduating, so they’re completely prepared for any situation.”
Drowning is responsible for more deaths among children 1 to 4 than any other cause except congenital anomalies (birth defects), according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those 1 to 14, fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death behind motor vehicle crashes, the CDC says.
“The thing with ISR is that every six months, children should retake one to two weeks of refresher lessons and that means that the lessons grow with the child,” Cragel said.
“We teach to the child’s level; we don’t teach levels.”
Cragel and Lazenby plan to return to Richland County this September to offer refresher courses to recent graduates and lessons to new families, as well.
Cragel said she’s willing and able to work with children older than six and those who have special needs, including autism, Down syndrome, spina bifida and other disabilities.
“We always give first responders and active military families 50 percent off the weekly charge,” she noted. “We believe in giving back to the community.”
Visit www.SwimwithKymISR.com to learn more about ISR and how to register for the program.
