Why this matters to us
When Adam was about 6 months old, we looked for ISR lessons. The closest instructor was two hours away. So we told ourselves our locked doors and door alarms would be enough.
They weren’t. Adam was 14 months old when he slipped out of the house and into our pool, and he didn’t know how to roll onto his back and float. Mom has said that if ISR had been available nearby, she believes she might have found him floating on his back, waiting to be rescued.
After Adam drowned, Dad decided to be the change we wanted to see. He spent eight weeks training in Florida, became a certified ISR instructor (and a Red Cross CPR instructor), and started Little Explorer Swim ISR so families in our area wouldn’t have to drive two hours for these lessons. (His lessons are his own business, separate from Because of ADAM. We just want every family to find a certified instructor, wherever they live.)
Skills before thrills. No matter the cost, the time commitment or the distance, sometimes there are no do-overs.
— Mom
What ISR is
Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) was founded in 1966 by Dr. Harvey Barnett (infantswim.com), with one mission: Not One More Child Drowns. It teaches self-rescue to kids from 6 months to 6 years old. The idea is simple: if a child ends up in the water alone, they should know what to do to survive until an adult gets to them. ISR has delivered millions of lessons and shares hundreds of documented stories of kids who used their skills to save themselves.
This isn’t “mommy and me” splash time. It’s survival skills, taught one child at a time by a certified instructor.
- Babies 6–12 months learn the Rollback-to-Float: roll onto their back and float, resting and breathing until help arrives.
- Kids 1–6 years (once they’re walking well) learn Swim-Float-Swim: swim, roll onto their back to float and rest, then roll over and swim again until they reach the steps, the wall or the shore.
How lessons work
- One-on-one with a certified ISR instructor, never in a group.
- 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for about 4–6 weeks (usually 20–30 lessons). Short, daily lessons are how little bodies learn and remember the skills.
- Safety checks every day. Before lessons start, a team that includes a pediatric nurse reviews each child’s health history. Then, before every lesson, the instructor checks in with the parent about sleep, eating and diapers.
- Practice in clothes. Most kids who fall in aren’t wearing a swimsuit, so once they’re skilled, every student practices in summer and winter clothes, shoes and all.
- Highly trained instructors. ISR instructors train for weeks in the water with an ISR Master Instructor, study child development and water safety, and must recertify every single year.
- Refreshers as kids grow, so their skills keep up with their bigger bodies.
One layer, not the only layer
Swim skills are one layer of protection. They never replace the others, and ISR says the same thing: no child is ever “drown-proof,” and supervision is the first and most important defense.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends swim lessons for kids after their first birthday as one of several layers of protection. For babies under 1, the AAP says there isn’t evidence yet that infant swim programs lower drowning risk, though some babies 6–12 months can learn to float on their backs. Talk with your pediatrician about what’s right for your child. Either way, an adult watching (a Water Watcher), a four-sided pool fence, door and pool alarms, and CPR still matter every single time.
We just want every child to have one more layer than Adam had.