The Home Page Network

Learning to swim may save your life or the life of your child. Our family decided to go to the pool for some fun and exercise. While I chose to sit out and watch, I noticed that our 6-year-old daughter did not seem alright in the water, and I asked my husband, who was in the water, to bring her out. When she came out, I asked her about the situation, and she told me that she had taken water in and was afraid to yell out for help, and sank back into the water. Thank God I was watching, but what if I had not been paying attention? That day, I decided she would be taking swim lessons to not be afraid in the water and ultimately know what to do to be safe. I reached out to Mindy Van Kirk, who teaches swim, for Julianna’s lessons to begin. Julianna learned how to swim and joined the Wellsboro Swim Team a few years later. She is not quite Esther Williams in the water, but her swimming is beautiful and graceful to watch.

Like many parents, I used to sit and watch, but now that all of my family members know how to swim, I thought it was time for me to learn too!
I had taken swim lessons as a child, so I could pass the swim test to go to the public pool here in Wellsboro BUT I did not know how to swim well. I also began taking lessons from Mindy Van Kirk in my sixties. She was very patient with me, and it took over a year for me to enjoy swimming, and now I still take lessons and swim whenever possible. I love it! It is such great exercise, and you can swim for your lifetime. I now feel confident in the water too!

Mindy Van Kirk is a YMCA Swim Official and officiates at the Wellsboro Swim Team meets. Her comments about swimming are as follows: It is a family activity that babies, children, parents, and grandparents can enjoy doing together. It builds endurance, muscle strength, and cardiovascular fitness. You could overcome the fear of water and be successful at swimming if you had a bad experience in the past. As you face your fear of water, you will help your children not be afraid. Swimming is kinder to joints and an excellent exercise for people who experience joint pain or are at risk of common injuries.

For more information on the benefits of swimming, please visit the following website.

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/10-hidden-benefits-swimming/

For more information about the Wellsboro Swim Team, visit their website.

https://wellsboro.swimtopia.com