"I saved myself!"

through her tears, she stated, "I saved myself!"

Letter from Susan J:

My granddaughter, Maddie, is 3 1/2 years old. We have a pool in our backyard, and so determined early on, that one of our top priorities was to make sure that she could swim and know what to do if she fell into the pool. She began taking swim lessons from Lindsey at Houston Swim Club in Sugar Land when she was 18 months old and has taken classes continuously since that time.

Several weeks ago, I was outside in the backyard with she and her 3 month old sister. I was holding the baby while Maddie was riding her tricycle around the perimeter of the pool. Suddenly, Maddie cut the corner around the pool too sharply and one wheel of the tricycle went over the edge, flipping Maddie, fully clothed and with her bike helmet on, as well as the tricycle (with her on it) into the pool.

My immediate reaction was to lay the baby down in a safe spot and start towards the water. As I was doing this, Maddie came to the surface of the water and used her arms and legs to make her way to the edge where she crawled out of the pool unassisted. Of course, the water was very cold and she was crying. However, in a few minutes, through her tears, she stated, "I saved myself!"

We are so thankful for the patient, loving and excellent teaching that Houston Swim Club and Lindsey have given Maddie these past few years.

We are so glad that, through the float test, she was given the experience of knowing how to maneuver in the water fully clothed.

Without the training she has been given, this could have had a very different outcome. We will definitely be continuing this training with baby sister when the time is right!