By DAVID CLOUSTON

Salina Journal

Her son is one of those kids without any fear, a little worrisome for a mom who knows her 6-year-old also loves the water.

So Vicky Sweet joined other mothers and child caregivers on the pool deck at the Salina Municipal Pool, watching her son Jacob take part on the first day of the third session of summer swimming lessons.

"It's just so he can swim well, and I don't have to be so worried when he's in the water," said Sweet, Salina. Jacob's taken lessons at the YMCA, and it's his third summer for lessons at the municipal pool.

"He wants to go off the diving board. At the 'Y' he's done that, but there's always an instructor right there. He needs to get a little bit better for me to just let him go by himself," Sweet said.

It's a right of passage as traditional as spring thunderstorms, wheat harvest and Fourth of July fireworks for Kansas kids to learn to swim at city pools.

Like many families, the Sweets -- Vicky, her husband, James, and their three children -- are boaters. Hence the couple's desire to ensure their children are confident in the water. Their two daughters, Shaelin, 12, and Cassidy, 11, already swim really well, Vicky said.

The city's summer swim lesson sessions typically draw hundreds of children, all the way from preschool age to late teens. The Salina Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees the program and manages the pool, tried twice this season to offer adult lessons but got no takers, said Chris Curtis, recreation superintendent.

"We realize lessons are an important part because those are your future users, and they're going to be potential (life)guards. We've got to keep a supply of guards on hand," Curtis said.

Thus as planning continues for a new aquatic swimming complex to replace the 50-year-old pool, there could be incorporated a diving well and traditional lap lanes.

"You've got to have deep water to have the resources for lessons and those type of training things," Curtis said.

Through the first three sessions of swimming lessons, there have been 325 children signed up, he said. Each summer the city offers four sessions, each for up to six levels of ability, starting with beginners.

At each session children meet four times a week for two weeks. Fridays are makeup days for lessons canceled during the week.

"Some of them will try to progress, all the way through the summer," Curtis said. "They should be able to get through four sessions."

How to float on your back

On a recent Monday, instructor Kaitlyn Arpin was teaching a group of young swimmers.

"What's one thing when you're floating on your back -- how should we put our arms? Out to the side, or down by our sides. Isn't that right?" she asked. "Where should our chin be? Should it be tucked in like this? No, it should be pointing to the sky, right?

"What about our tummy, what should our tummy be doing?" Arpin said. "It's full of air and pointing to the sky, right?"

Cindy Peterson, 645 Starlight, was watching her niece Maddy Walter, 7, who was in Arpin's group.

"Usually on the third session, most people are off on vacation, so it's a lot smaller and more one-on-one (instruction)," Peterson said. "I think they do a great job here."

Swimming is something Maddy, the daughter of Brian and Lori Walter, Salina, enjoys, said Peterson. And, Peterson believes it's an important skill.

"You never know when they're older and they'll be at the lake or at a party or something and they might get shoved in the water. It's important they do know," Peterson said.

Many don't learn how

But not every child does learn. The USA Swimming Foundation commissioned a national research study as part of its national "Make a Splash" anti-drowning initiative. Results from the survey, conducted by the University of Memphis, were released earlier this year.

The survey found that about six out of 10 black children are unable to swim, nearly twice as many as their white counterparts.

Similarly, 56 percent of Hispanic and Latino children surveyed were unable to swim.

The study surveyed 1,772 children ages 6 to 16 years old in six U.S. metropolitan areas. The study also showed parental influence was the major contributing factor to a child's ability or inability to swim.

This year the city's human relations department did a flyer in Spanish promoting parks and recreation department activities and highlighted swimming lessons.

"We are trying to get information to the Hispanic community about swimming lessons," said Darrin Stineman, outreach specialist with the Salina Human Relations Department.

Results from the Memphis survey suggested minority parents may not have had easy access to pools growing up and didn't learn to swim, thus they didn't insist that their children learn.

Curtis said to help families who have trouble affording the $15 fee for a session of swimming lessons, the city reduces the fee for those who meet the guidelines of the federal free and reduced price school lunch program.

When it's an emergency

Becoming a water safety instructor and/or a lifeguard (certification is different for each -- lifeguards aren't automatically certified to teach swimming lessons), is still a popular summer job for teens and adults, said Marva Weller.

Weller is a certified water safety instructor trainer through the North Central Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross in Salina. She teaches water safety instructor classes in 11 counties served by the chapter. She also teaches swimming lessons at the YMCA in Salina during the school year.

"This year we've had some pretty full (instructor) classes," Weller said. The instructor course takes about 35 hours to complete.

If nothing else, teaching youngsters to swim helps them save themselves if there's a water emergency, she said.

Some children who haven't been instructed might think they can swim, "but it really helps to actually know water safety," said Caitlin Householter, one of the water safety instructors at Salina's pool. "So many kids who say they know how to swim don't know how to put on a life jacket or wear it properly."

Float like Spider Man

Householter said the best way to overcome any fear children might have about putting their face in the water or learning other swimming skills is thinking language first, then actions.

She uses similes, metaphors and analogies to get her pupils' attention.

"A lot of kids I had last session were scared to put their ears and head in the water," she said. "But, to get them to do their back glides, if I told them to just hang there like Spider Man, they think that's cool and they'll do it. You just have to really get them to trust you."

n Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at dclouston@salina.com.

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