Every day in the U.S., there are, at minimum, 10 fatal drownings. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-4. For every child who drowns, there are another four or five who are hospitalized and may suffer lifelong disabilities. Florida loses more children under the age of 5 to drowning than any other state. According to the Safe Children Coalition, drownings in Florida occur year-round, with the highest number of drownings occurring in the spring and summer in residential swimming pools.
The statistics are harsh, but not as harsh as the reality of the loss.
Lithia resident Natalee Hines empowers children and their families to safely enjoy water.
Hines owns Swim Life in Lithia. She teaches survival-oriented skills, such as floating and treading water, and skill-building swim lessons.
The Swim Life program offers individualized, survival-oriented swim lessons. Lessons are designed to build confidence and strengthen one’s relationship with water.
Hines grew up in Florida. Her son, James, started Swim Life lessons when her military family was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. He was 8 months old when he learned how to float, and by 20 months old he was snorkeling. Hines realized how tremendous the lessons were. Soon after, her family moved to Virginia. Hines was pregnant with her daughter, Chloe, and she was devastated to find there were no ISR (infant swimming resource) lessons in their area. What happened next is a testament to passion.
Hines is a certified Swim Life aquatic education specialist and is also certified for first aid and CPR.
“Swim Life is about getting an understanding of how your body and water interact with each other. I teach how water supports our bodies,” Hines said.
Hines has taught infants as young as 8 months.
“As soon as they can crawl, they can learn to swim. They need to be crawling to have hand-leg coordination, to be able to manipulate themselves into a float,” Hines said.
Hines provides lessons all year for all ages and abilities. Her one-on-one lessons teach water survival techniques and skill development.
To learn more about Swim Life and Hines’ lessons, visit www.myswimlife.com/natalee-hines or call 407-878-4352.
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