Saturday, May 15, 2021
Sharks Swim Club Implements Adaptive Aquatics Program for Swimmers of All Abilities
Photo courtesy of Sharks Swim Club, taken before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along the banks of the Gulf of Mexico is Sharks Swim Club. Based out of League City, Texas, the club has experienced a growth across all ages and skill levels.
This past summer, the club once again made an impact on its community, this time through the introduction of learn-to-swim initiatives designed to help kids with mental disabilities.
Kate Zabler, one of the coaches at Sharks, knew she wanted to involve those with mental disabilities when she joined the program four years ago. Zabler grew up swimming in the same program as Special Olympian, Lisa Elsener, gaining first-hand experience on how important it is to a swim program to include swimmers of all backgrounds, needs and abilities.
“As a swimmer, I saw that you can create environments where everyone was allowed to grow and reach wherever they wanted to go,” Zabler said. “So, as a coach, I’ve always been associated with programs where we have tried to create these programs for kids regardless of where their abilities are.”
This approach led to a new summer program idea for Sharks: an Adaptive Aquatics Program. This learn-to-swim effort tailors each swimmer’s individual development plan to help the athlete grow at their own pace rather than an overarching pace of a group. The idea centered around they call ISPs (Individual Swimming Plans) that are developed for each individual swimmer.
“It creates a pathway that is best for those kids,” Zabler said. “We want them to reach wherever they want to go.”
The curriculum came to fruition after the coaching staff worked with the Special Olympics swimming program at their local high school to find out what would work best in a learn-to-swim program—learning that the swimmers were hoping for more in-depth instructions when getting in the water.
“We had kids on the Autism spectrum, and we wanted to create a situation that worked for them,” Zabler explained. “We looked to see what we were doing internally, through swim lessons and our summer program, to find how we could better help the community in our area that was underserved.”
Sharks Swim Club sought out coaches who had experience working with children with mental disabilities and also bolstered their educational opportunities, utilizing a curriculum from a program in Australia that focused on specialized training for these swimmers.
“This all created a program for kids who had a little bit of a different format into learning how to swim,” Zabler said.
This adaptive program was set to debut before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then, like seemingly everything else in the world, the virus put a sudden halt to the plan.
In early 2021, the club applied for, and later received, USA Swimming’s Learn-to-Swim Grant to help fund the 2020 debut of its summer Adaptive Aquatics Program.
“With COVID, we couldn’t make it work, and luckily, we were able to apply for the grant this year,” Zabler said. “That allowed us to get 50 kids who will be able to participate in our Adaptive Aquatics Program. We have a local tee-shirt designer who is helping us, and we also have worked with our local schools, so we really are able to use our whole community to create a special program.”
After the success in its first summer, Zabler hopes to turn the program into a year-round initiative in the future. The Adaptive Aquatics Program has been an integral part for children with mental disabilities in southern Texas and has helped the local youth get acquainted and comfortable in the water.
“My goal is to just get kids in the water,” Zabler said. “That goes for beginners and our older kids—it is great to see them make strides. Everything was just born out of wanting to see kids grow and achieve.
“Swimming is a fundamental skill that every child and every person should know how to do. It is critically important to find ways to reach kids wherever they are and to make sure that everyone knows how to swim.”
For more information on Sharks Swim Club, click here
Along the banks of the Gulf of Mexico is Sharks Swim Club. Based out of League City, Texas, the club has experienced a growth across all ages and skill levels.
This past summer, the club once again made an impact on its community, this time through the introduction of learn-to-swim initiatives designed to help kids with mental disabilities.
Kate Zabler, one of the coaches at Sharks, knew she wanted to involve those with mental disabilities when she joined the program four years ago. Zabler grew up swimming in the same program as Special Olympian, Lisa Elsener, gaining first-hand experience on how important it is to a swim program to include swimmers of all backgrounds, needs and abilities.
“As a swimmer, I saw that you can create environments where everyone was allowed to grow and reach wherever they wanted to go,” Zabler said. “So, as a coach, I’ve always been associated with programs where we have tried to create these programs for kids regardless of where their abilities are.”
This approach led to a new summer program idea for Sharks: an Adaptive Aquatics Program. This learn-to-swim effort tailors each swimmer’s individual development plan to help the athlete grow at their own pace rather than an overarching pace of a group. The idea centered around they call ISPs (Individual Swimming Plans) that are developed for each individual swimmer.
“It creates a pathway that is best for those kids,” Zabler said. “We want them to reach wherever they want to go.”
The curriculum came to fruition after the coaching staff worked with the Special Olympics swimming program at their local high school to find out what would work best in a learn-to-swim program—learning that the swimmers were hoping for more in-depth instructions when getting in the water.
“We had kids on the Autism spectrum, and we wanted to create a situation that worked for them,” Zabler explained. “We looked to see what we were doing internally, through swim lessons and our summer program, to find how we could better help the community in our area that was underserved.”
Sharks Swim Club sought out coaches who had experience working with children with mental disabilities and also bolstered their educational opportunities, utilizing a curriculum from a program in Australia that focused on specialized training for these swimmers.
“This all created a program for kids who had a little bit of a different format into learning how to swim,” Zabler said.
This adaptive program was set to debut before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Then, like seemingly everything else in the world, the virus put a sudden halt to the plan.
In early 2021, the club applied for, and later received, USA Swimming’s Learn-to-Swim Grant to help fund the 2020 debut of its summer Adaptive Aquatics Program.
“With COVID, we couldn’t make it work, and luckily, we were able to apply for the grant this year,” Zabler said. “That allowed us to get 50 kids who will be able to participate in our Adaptive Aquatics Program. We have a local tee-shirt designer who is helping us, and we also have worked with our local schools, so we really are able to use our whole community to create a special program.”
After the success in its first summer, Zabler hopes to turn the program into a year-round initiative in the future. The Adaptive Aquatics Program has been an integral part for children with mental disabilities in southern Texas and has helped the local youth get acquainted and comfortable in the water.
“My goal is to just get kids in the water,” Zabler said. “That goes for beginners and our older kids—it is great to see them make strides. Everything was just born out of wanting to see kids grow and achieve.
“Swimming is a fundamental skill that every child and every person should know how to do. It is critically important to find ways to reach kids wherever they are and to make sure that everyone knows how to swim.”
For more information on Sharks Swim Club, click here