Wednesday, March 3, 2010 THE OLD BRIDGE AREA’S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER www.theoldbridgeobserver.com Vol. 21 No. 15 ONE DOLLAR

By LAURA MATTHEWSObserver staff

SwimKids Swim School offersa variety of customized swim pro-grams and one specifically designedfor children with special needs.

The developmental swim pro-gram uses water education to de-velop water safety and swimmingskills. It also focuses on developingself-confidence and building self-esteem.

According to the SwimKidsWeb site, the program is customizedfor each child’s emotional and de-velopmental abilities, with the goalto help each child become physi-cally active and learn the life sav-ing skill of swimming. The ultimategoal is to eventually offer thesesame children another avenue forintegration into a small group ofhighly functional special needs chil-dren.

The special needs swim pro-gram at SwimKids is led by DaveTonnesen, owner, and AngelaBaker, special needs director.

Tonnesen, an aquatics profes-sional with over 20 years’ experi-ence, is the former head coach ofPrince William County SpecialNeeds Swim Program and has re-ceived a commendation from PrinceWilliam Board of County Supervi-sors for his support of special needsprograms and his commitment toworking with special needs chil-dren.

Baker said she finds it difficultto stress enough the impact thatswim lessons can make on the lifeof a special needs child.

“Water is such a great motiva-

tor for children with special needs.Kids who are limited by movementon land can often learn to movewithout restriction in the water.They learn the water safety andswimming skills they need to beconfident in the water. They havefun exploring new boundaries. Thiscreates a water experience that isnot only exciting and educational,but also empowering, substantiveand fulfilling as well,” she ex-plained.

At SwimKids, each lesson isadapted to meet the special need ofthe swimmer.

“Each child requires a differentteaching method that is individuallydesigned to cater to (his or her) abil-ity and skill level of the particularstudent. Our program is designed tolook beyond the disability. We workvery hard to relate to the swimmeras an individual,” Baker added.

According to the National Au-tism Association, drowning is theleading cause of death among chil-dren in the autism spectrum. TheAmerican Institute for PreventativeMedicine states that drowning alsois the leading cause of death amongchildren in the U.S. under age 5.

Baker went on to explain shehas received volumes of positivefeedback from many parents of stu-dents who have progressed throughthe SwimKids special needs pro-gram. She has seen firsthand thepositive impact that learning toswim has on the individual and thebenefits the families receive.

“Learning to swim is not onlya safety skill, but a source of confi-dence building and body condition-ing. With confidence in the water,

our boys have another social outlet.Since drowning is one of the lead-ing causes of death of children in thespectrum, I consider the watersafety skills that are taught atSwimKids an essential foundationfor a lifelong, safe enjoyment of thewater. Being a part of SwimKids,where there is always a caring in-structor who is willing to try newmethods, has made a big differencein our boys’ lives,” says oneSwimKids mother.

Baker said that one of herstudent’s mothers said this: “I re-member asking the question as if itwere yesterday,” said a woman asshe watched her autistic son’s swim

lesson at SwimKids.“Will he reallyever swim? Now, I watch everyweek in amazement as my son getsfrom one end of the pool to the otheron his own.” She continued, “Weare so pleased with the progress hehas made over the years. Our fam-ily has always wanted a pool of ourown. We never thought it more thana dream because we knew that ourchildren would have to be skilledswimmers before we gave it anyreal consideration. We figured thatdue to autism, it would in fact neverbe anything more than a dream. I amhappy to say that we are saving ourpennies for a pool. We are so thank-ful to SwimKids, the programs and

SwimKids program focuses on children with special needsthe coaches themselves, for thisvaluable life skill they have taughtboth our children.”

The nonprofit SwimKidsFoundation sponsors many things inthe community not limited to waterand safety programs. Plans to beginthe Marilyn Kelly Fund, a scholar-ship program for underprivilegedspecial needs children, are in pro-cess. Kelly retired in August aftercoaching the Montclair Seahawkssummer league swim team in PrinceWilliam County for 35 years. Theteam wanted to give her a gift thatkeeps on giving and made a dona-tion of $900+ to SwimKids for itsspecial needs program. SwimKidsis matching the donation. The foun-dation is in its beginning stage andis not ready to fully fund scholar-ship programs yet. Further detailswill be available as they develop.

“SwimKids is proud to be apart of the foundation and looksforward to forging a strong, lastingrelationship,” said Cindy Tonnesen,co-owner.

SwimKids offers a wide rangeof lesson structures to meet a child’sneeds. In addition to its specialneeds program, SwimKids offerslessons for SwimBabies for ages sixmonths and up, SwimTots for agesthree to five years, SwimKids forages six and up and Swim Team.The programs are offered year-round at six area swimming pools.For more information on SwimKidsSwim School or to enroll your childin lessons, visit www.swimkids.usor call 703-396-SWIM.

Angela Baker, special needs director at SwimKids swim school, teaches a swimlesson to Olivia Henry. Courtesy photo

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