“Drownings rose among young children after decades of decline. It’s highly concerning says the CDC.”

The Los Angeles Times just published one of the most disheartening articles to date. Drowning is preventable, yet the numbers remain alarmingly high. This is why swim lessons are one of the most important things you can give your children!

Swim Lessons – not only for FUN but for LIFE

2020 came and went. Like most of us remember, the pandemic affected just about every aspect of our lives. But what we weren’t expecting was the number of deaths in young children due to drowning to drastically increase. “Drowning rates among children 1 to 4 were about 28% higher in 2021 and 2022, compared to 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” What is even more staggering is the following number. “In 2022, 461 children ages 1 to 4 died in a drowning accident, which is the number one cause of death among babies and toddlers.”

We know that drowning has been the leading cause of death in children under 4 even before the pandemic. However, witnessing an increase in these numbers is very concerning.

Experts emphasize that water safety should now be a top priority in Los Angeles. However, at Premier Swim Academy, it has always been our priority. It is the heart of our mission and purpose and the backbone to everything we do, teach, say, and create. To passionately create a safer experience in and around the water is the purpose of Premier Swim Academy.

Swim Lessons for Everyone

That is why we have created programs for anyone. Whether it is your 6-month-old, your teenager, a mom, or a grandparent. Apart of our mission is that regardless of your age or stage you can not only learn how to swim but you can also grow in your technical skills and stroke development. Regardless, you will learn and understand the benefits of water safety.

Here are our three most beneficial programs:

Private Lessons – With a one-to-one ratio of student to instructor, Private Swim Lessons are designed as a completely customizable learning experience. Depending on the swimmer’s ability level, participants will progress from learning the basics of swimming to a more advanced refinement of their stroke.

Group Lessons – We firmly believe that Group Swim Lessons aka Academy Kids offers the correct balance of social opportunity, instructional engagement, and physical development for new and former swimmers. Academy Kids climb through our Premier Level System, which builds on the fundamentals of safety and leads to competent and competitive strokes to prepare swimmers for future aquatic settings.

Parent and Me – Our Parent and Me classes give parents the opportunity to learn about the joys of swimming and water play with their children while allowing them to become comfortable in an aquatic learning environment. Our Infant/Toddler lessons will allow your child to become comfortable and safe in the water at a young age and will help them learn to love the water too!

The good news is, all THREE of these programs and more are offered at our three different swim schools – Aliso Viejo, Diamond Bar, and Rancho Cucamonga.

The Reality –

Los Angeles is home to over 250,000 swimming pools, 96% of which are attached to single-family homes. That means most of the drownings happen in a backyard swimming pool. The CDC recommends beginning swim lessons at a very early age. The sooner your son or daughter learns to swim the better. As a parent you deserve the peace of mind that your little one, if ever left attended on accident in the backyard, would be able to float on their back or swim to the side of the pool and have a chance of surviving. You child deserves to know the joys of swimming safely this summer and every summer after that.

What if your child is little or wants to be with you in the pool?

That is where our Parent and Me Program comes in!!!

Newly improved, The Parent and Me Program at Premier Swim Academy represents the base of our swim philosophy. Our Parent and Me classes give parents the opportunity to learn about the joys of swimming and water play with their children while allowing them to become comfortable in an aquatic learning environment. Our Infant/Toddler lessons will allow your child to become comfortable and safe in the water at a young age and will help them learn to love the water too! Premier’s programs for infants, babies, and toddlers offers four levels of advancement to prepare children for water safety and swimming techniques in their future.

TINY FISH

This program is designed as an introduction to water comfort and breath control conditioning. These lessons are for infants 4 months to 6 months. At 20 minutes long, this lesson is shorter than our more advanced P&M programs to accommodate the limited abilities of these young swimmers.

  • Ages: 4-6 months
  • *FREE for children under the age of 6 months

LITTLE FISH

In this program, young swimmers will begin to be introduced to swimming techniques like submersions, turning, and back floats. The goal of this program is to continue conditioning the swimmer’s breath control, and developing beginner kicking, paddling, underwater turning, and backfloats. In addition, swimmers will begin to be exposed to more independent swimming with the use of teaching aids like floating noodles and mats.

  • Ages: 7-15 months

BIG FISH

This program is a continuation of the skills worked on in Little Fish. As swimmers age into this program, they will have met the correct developmental milestones to develop strong and independent breath control, back floats, and turning. In addition, swimmers will be introduced to Long Swims, where the swimmer will swim independently from the ledge to the parent and from the parent back to the ledge.

  • Ages: 16-25 months

SUPER FISH

In this final Parent and Me level, swimmers will work on developing completely independent swimming skills. Our young swimmers will build upon the skills learned in the previous levels to develop completely independent Long Swims, Independent turning to self-rescue, back floats, and complete water comfort. The goal of this program is to ease the transition from parent-led lessons into our group learn-to-swim program.

  • Ages: 26-36 months

Also, HINT HINT for any child under 6 months this Program is FREE!!!

Life is precious. Summer is around the corner which is even more of a pivotal moment to enroll your kids with Premier Swim Academy or any school nearest you. We are open 7 days a week (6 days a week at our Aliso location) and would love to have you in the pool.

We are proudly serving, Aliso Viejo, Diamond Bar and Rancho Cucamonga YEAR-ROUND. For just lessons during the Summer, we are proud to serve, Audie Murphy, Daybreak, Moreno Valley, Saddleback, and Suncrest.

See you on the deck!

You can read the full article by the LA Times, here.

Gold, Jenny. “Drownings Rose among Young Children after Decades of Decline. It’s ‘highly Concerning,’ CDC Says.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2024, www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-14/drownings-increased-among-young-kids-experts-blame-pandemic.