Heidi is Shane’s mama and one of our “Legacy” families. Legacy families are those families we’ve had for 2 or more generations. Heidi was taught to swim as a baby by both Jackie and Kelley! (as a side note, the top slider is Heidi’s daughter Claire swimming as a baby!). These are the wonderful families and stories that have kept us going for 79 years!
“Hello Kelley and Jackie,
Jackie – I heard that Shane saw you yesterday and told you about his fall into the lake this year and would love to share the story with you from a grown up’s perspective. Although I’m sure that a 2 year old’s version was pretty cute 😉
In May we were visiting Shane and Claire’s grandparent’s (my in-laws) lake house. The house is on Loon Lake and only accessible by boat which of course means that if the kids aren’t in the house, they’re in their life jacket. A valuable rule that the Peterson family has followed ever since Wendy and I were Swimbabes in the 80’s!
During that trip we were all playing on the dock, fully clothed since it was May in Oregon and the water was freezing cold. While playing Shane got distracted and fell into the lake. He immediately rolled onto his back and before he even got onto his back we had pulled him out of the water. Shane didn’t cry. He didn’t panic, he didn’t inhale water, he didn’t worry at all! He followed his muscle memory and as soon as we got his little feet on the dock he simply said, “I got wet! I am cold.”
The best part was that when we dried him off and changed his clothes he proudly told everyone “I went swimming today!” No fear of the water, no trauma, just a little boy getting to do a mini float even though we told him it was too cold to swim 🙂 That is 100% what he learns at Swimbabes. We have little lifelong water-safe swimmers!
Thank you for the critical skills you teach every day! I value that you are not only teaching your kids how to feel comfortable and be safe in/around water but you are teaching PARENTS! We know how to keep our kids safe around water. We know to be vigilant even when they have on life jackets. We know accidents happen every day. But we know these things because you reinforce them to every member of each Swimbabes family.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the work that you do! Your hard work, dedication, and love are so appreciated by the entire Hanson and Peterson families <3
With gratitude and love,
Heidi Hanson”
