American Fork Fitness Center offers preschool swim lessons
AMERICAN FORK — Older kids have gone back to school, and it’s quiet in the house. It’s also fairly quiet at the American Fork swimming pool, and a good time to take preschoolers for swimming lessons.
The American Fork Fitness Center has started preschool swimming lessons. There are two half-hour classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and they run by the month.
Instructor Diane Haslam said it was working well.
“This is great time to come to lessons,” she said. “The pool’s not crowded and all the kids aren’t there. The bubble can get loud when there are a lot of people there. In the morning, it’s kind of quiet and intimate.” She referred to the inflatable bubble used in colder months to cover the pool and deck.
Pool manager Joey Byington told how the program got started. “I have worked here since 2006, and we have had elementary school lessons,” he said. “At my old job, we had lessons in the mornings and afternoons for kids not in school. I thought we could try it here. We haven’t offered them in the mornings before.”
Doing those morning classes allows them to reach new people.
“We can tap into people who had kids at home and those who home-school kids,” he said. “Once it builds up, I want to expand it.”
Haslam is one of two teachers at the sessions, with small class sizes.
“We have five in my class,” she said. She reported an enthusiastic response after the first lesson.
“It went really well,” she said. “We have cute kids who are familiar with the water.” She said that moms reported to her that their younger children were bored at home, so they found the swim lessons a good outlet for them.
Chevy Pease said that was her circumstance. She has two children in the class — 3-year-old Benson and 5-year-old Elizabeth. Benson is just getting started, but Elizabeth has had fun.
“It is way too busy in the summertime,” she said. “October is good because if I wait much longer it is really cold. Everybody seems to think they do swimming lessons in the summer and everything else in the fall. They have this bubble, and it is nice to do lessons. In the summer, it is hot, and it is hard to watch in the hot sun.
“Elizabeth loves coming to swimming lessons,” she said. “They connect with their teachers a lot. It is important to have an enthusiastic teacher. They do a good job here.”
Haslam said they start slow with the children.
“We talked about how to blow bubbles and practice putting your ears in the water,” she said. “We practice blowing a candle. They have to blow air out of both their mouth and nose. We do games to help them be comfortable in the water. They have to not be scared. This group isn’t scared.”
Kristina Gunby is the other instructor, and she has had a similar experience.
“They are pretty new at it all, but all of them were really enthusiastic,” she said. “None were crying. It was fun to teach.”
She told about the first lessons. “We try to get them comfortable,” she said. “They blow bubbles, put their face in the water. We help them float, both on their back and stomach.”
Mike Torgersen is an aide to the teachers.
“It is really fun to help teach,” he said. “The children are really fun to be around. On the first day they weren’t really comfortable with the new teachers. The second day they really liked the teachers.”
To sign up or for more information call (801) 763-3084, ext. 225, or go online to afcity.org.
