Success story

A Florida toddler had swim lessons to thank for averting disaster in his backyard pool. Two-year-old Kyle Siegel saved himself from drowning after falling fully clothed into the water.

He used the rollback-to-float technique he learned from the owner of Infant Swimming Resource Swim School , Instructor Toni Ann Capanelli. It’s a swimming survival technique taught to babies.

Kyle’s mother, Traci Siegel, said their home was undergoing renovations, and the pool fence had been removed.

When Kyle’s older brother left the door open that lead to the pool, Kyle went out the door.

His mother heard the splash when he fell in the pool.

“We saw Kyle float to the top, roll on his back and swim to the edge of the pool and get out, himself fully clothed,” said Siegel.

Capanelli, a certified infant resource instructor, has taught hundreds of babies to swim and float at her Infant Swimming Resource Swim School in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

“We teach lessons through sensory motor and through water levels in the water and through touch,” said Capanelli. Capanelli said it takes repetition and commitment from everyone involved for the lessons to be effective.“It’s about a year’s lapse, and he still maintained the skills he was taught the year prior,” “I don’t know what could’ve happened. That’s when I get emotional. If we hadn’t heard the splash and he hadn’t had the swim lessons, I don’t know if he’d be here,” Siegel said.

The newest addition to the Smith family (Story on page 10). Maverick Beckham, 8 months old, completed his first round of infant swim classes. Image credit: Riverkellyfund.org.