The NCH Safe and Healthy Children’s Coalition of Collier County, an organization committed to reducing drowning deaths in Florida, had a theory about why certain children were crying excessively in swim class.

Perhaps, organizers thought, their immigrant mothers who had little exposure to water themselves were passing their anxiety onto their kids.

To see if the notion held merit, the coalition launched an experiment earlier this year with 27 women who are enrolled at Grace Place for Children and Families, a nonprofit operation providing educational opportunities for low-income and immigrant families. It was the children of these mothers who were initially too fussy to teach.

Teaching Moms to Swim

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The NCH Safe & Healthy Children's Coalition of Collier County launched a pilot program that teaches immigrant mothers how to swim. Photos show how the women, once terrified of water, learned to enjoy being in the pool.

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The constant crying and general unease among the youngsters went on for weeks, preventing them from taking full advantage of the free swimming lessons they so critically needed, said Paula DiGrigoli, executive director of the Naples-based organization. Organizers say drowning is the second leading cause of death among children 18 and under in Collier County.

Eventually DiGrigoli asked their mothers, the majority of which are Hispanic, if they’d be willing to help ease their kids into the program by splashing water on their faces and taking them to the pool themselves.

The suggestion caused a minor panic. That was when she discovered the vast majority of women Grace Place served either had no prior swimming experience, or worse, a bad experience in the water.

“Even just talking to them at the initial presentation, I could feel how nervous they were,” DiGrigoli said. “Our theory was that, at some level, they were transferring that fear to their children.”

So the coalition, which is a part of a Naples health care system, offered the women an opportunity to learn to swim in the hope that their children might be more receptive to instruction once their moms became comfortable in the water.

Over four days, the mothers showed remarkable progress.

“It was really great to see because they felt at ease,” said Mercedes Puente, a City of Naples park manager. “They were laughing and giggling and helping each other out.”

Barbara Evans, Grace Place’s chief development officer, also observed a noticeable difference.

“There was some trepidation, but at the end of the day, they were excited to model what they learned,” Evans said.

As expected, the parent-first approach to swimming lessons proved effective. Their kids were much more at ease in the water as a result.

“This was the first time they didn’t cry,” DiGrigoli said.

With their lessons wrapped, the mothers are now bringing their kids to the pool to enjoy trauma-free swimming together.

The pilot program, funded by a local Kiwanis chapter, will continue. The organization is now in the process of teaching South Florida’s growing Haitian population to swim.

"We have to change the culture," DiGrigoli said.

And it starts with the parents.