Swimming program helps keep heads above the water

By Chris Lundgren
For The Star

Eagle River's Michelle Caldwell is on a mission to save children from drowning. Caldwell, who works full time in Eagle River and has three children of her own, volunteers more than 20 hours as head of the “Learn to Swim” at Knik Aquatics program at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.

Knik Aquatics is a nonprofit organization that includes a swim team, diving team and swim lesson program for Eagle River and Anchorage swimmers.

Michelle Caldwell of Eagle River is intent on saving lives and has been in charge of the “Learn to Swim” at Knik Aquatics program since early 2005. Photo by Perry Lundgren

At first, she felt reluctant to add to her already demanding schedule. “I struggled with my decision, but that weekend there was an article in the paper about a child who had drowned,” she said. “And I thought, This is the sign I needed.'”

Caldwell initially based Learn to Swim on the Red Cross and Swim America programs, she said, but it has been overhauled through time. “Every single [swimming ability] level has been revamped,” she said. “Sometimes it looks good on paper, but until you actually do it, you don't know.”

She and her instructors make minor changes as well. “Every month, something gets tweaked a little bit,” she said. “Some of it is simply based on the personalities of the kids in the classes.”

Children and a few adults, who are taught separately, take two lessons per week on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday evenings. All levels are offered simultaneously, so siblings can take lessons at the same time.

Each class is 40 minutes long, Caldwell said, with 10 minutes at the beginning to get organized and do floor exercises and 30 minutes for actual swimming. Instructors are certified as lifeguards and in CPR and first aid, she said, and are all members or former members of the Knik swim team, which Caldwell sees as an advantage. “They have been taught the strokes recently,” she said. “That tends to make them better teachers than, say, an adult whose only credential is being certified as a lifeguard.”

Since the “Learn to Swim” program reemerged under her watch, the number of children in the program has quadrupled, Caldwell said. “We started off with kids trickling in,” she said. “Now we're up to about 100 kids going through every [one-month] session.”

Caldwell estimates that 75 percent of the children in the program are from Chugiak-Eagle River. The rest come from Anchorage, mostly in the Muldoon area around the school.

Because of the program's flexibility, swim teachers have been able to help a whole gamut of people. In addition to learning the strokes, each swimmer hears about the dangers of Alaska's cold waters and the importance of wearing a life jacket. More advanced swimmers learn survival skills, such as making a flotation device out of a pair of pants.

One former student, who ignored the lifejacket advice, managed to help save himself anyway, Caldwell said. An 11-year-old boy went fishing in Southeast Alaska with his father in spring 2006, and he fell overboard, she said. “He was already panicking, but he actually thought about the fact that he had to use his arms and legs and kick,” she said. “It kept him up long enough that someone could get to him and pull him out.”

She smiled and shook her head. “One story about someone like that is worth 200 stories of people who just took the lessons.”

The Bartlett Pool is a busy place during the “Learn to Swim” sessions on weeknights. PHOTO BY Perry Lundgren

“I stay organized, and I have a good team behind me,” she said. “My instructors can take over when I'm busy, and I also have a family network that supports it all.” Her husband, Jim, is a big part of that network, she said. “He makes sure dinners are ready, and he's spent a lot of weekends with my son, while my daughters and I are at the pool.”

She relies on other volunteers like Jim Heaslet, president of Knik Aquatics, who defines his role as “staying in the woodwork and helping out wherever I'm needed.”

“Michelle is the cornerstone of the “Learn to Swim” program,” he said. “The rest of us pitch in where we can.” Parent volunteer Lauren Moore, who takes care of registration every month, agrees. “Michelle is the glue of the program,” she said. “She is so personable. She makes everyone feel like their child is really special.”

Even parents are part of the Caldwell team, Moore said. “We have great moms and dads, and they pass the word about Michelle and what a wonderful program she runs.”

Reach the reporter at news@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 11, 2007.