John Bainbridge - "The Backfloating Controversy"

John will take us through an in depth look into the issue of backfloating with infants. A balanced presentation looking at various methods of backfloating with infants and toddlers. The survival method is dealt with in some detail.

Dave DuBois - "Creating or Re-creating a Teaching Manual for your Infant Program"

Dave will share the process of updating and revising a teacher training manual while offering suggestions to make each step easier and more effective. As a part of the process he will discuss involving staff as a key component and also will review photography, design, branding and production of a very visually appealing finished document.

Kirk Marks - "Aquatic Education for Babies and Infants – A study of History and the Methodology"

Kirk will guide us in a detailed exploration of the processes and what impact they have had and continue to have on teaching of aquatic skills to babies and infants. His presentation explores the history of infant swimming, the learning principles and the various processes involved through the use of graphic images and historical footage obtained in more than 30 years of research.

Barbara Nolan - "Training Great Infant Swim Teachers"

Parents attending infant swim classes trust their swim teacher with the most precious being in the world — their child, so swim schools have a responsibility to be well informed, up-to-date and to use the worlds best teaching practices.

Barbara will take us through a step-by step process to identify the key components to becoming a great infant teacher. She will also take us through an easy to follow swim teacher evaluation process which will identify weaknesses, provide solutions and give us a training tool to keep teachers on top of their game.

Kelly Pollock - "Infant Aquatics in Swimland and the Learners Connection"

Kelly will share an overview of a very successful infant program run at a number of facilities. She will focus on program quality and consistency as well as teaching and learning outcomes.

Kelly Rae - "Birth Experience and Unresolved Trauma"

For some babies, leaving the safe waters of the womb will leave an indelible imprint in shaping their future. Kelly's presentation will explore the relationship between birth experience, unresolved birth trauma and the healing potential of warm water in a safe aquatic learning environment.

In combination with a holistic approach and other important influences, it has been demonstrated that reconnecting babies with water from an early age can enhance their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Kelly Rae - "Stop Being So Childish"

Kelly will take us through a dynamic presentation to look at the "terrible twos"... why this is a time of frustration for parents often leading to dropping out of lessons. She will identify key issues; development of will power and emergence of independence, learning plateaus, parent interpretations of behaviour, changes in routines and more. Kelly will provide a variety of teaching strategies that really work to minimize anxiety and stress and to maximize success.

Shawn Read - "Marketing and Promoting Your Babies Program As The Flagship of Your Swim School"

Shawn will share many innovative methods to promote your babies swim program including; underwater photos and dvds, continuous loop dvds, program certificates, program videos above and underwater with musical soundtrack, parent information sheets and how to build a relationship with local journalists to keep your program in the news!

Julie Zancanaro - "Terrific Toddler Transitions"

A Developmental Approach to Dealing with Change

In this presentation Julie clarifies the common causes of conflict in swimming lessons for toddlers (18 months to 36 months), with particular focus on 2 year olds and the transitional events commonly associated with this group. Strategies for making the transition from parent and child programs to programs without parents are explored in depth — giving swim teachers lots of new ideas to explode the myth of the "Terrible Twos"!


Noa Glotter - "A Study on Attachment and Self-Esteem in Baby Swimming"

(This is a joint session co-presented with Ulrika Faerch of Sweden.)

Noa and Ulrika will take us through a cross-cultural journey about the psychological aspects of Baby Swimming. They will present a study on the aspects for both the parents and the children as related to the water experience.


Lulu Cisneros - "Lessons That Enhance Child Development, Swim Skills and Fun!"

Lulu will take us on a visual journey to explore unique aspects of her programs; music, laughter, unique teaching equipment and techniques that all delight parents and children alike. She will also explore the developmental benefits of participating in an active babies program. Her swim school has been the recipient of a major business success award in Mexico... she will show you why!

Beatriz Esesarte Pesqueira - "The Aquatic Context in Baby Swimming"

Beatriz is passionate to spread the message that water can help us as a great educative tool to become better human beings as individuals and as a species. She designed a specialized pool (a one of a kind design) where babies can naturally adapt to water through their own sensations, feelings, thoughts and movements; generating awareness in the parents of the importance of communication in the present moment with the water and their babies.


Jenny McPhail - "Water Discovery and The Lesson Planner"

Swim lessons that are fun, skill based and standardized in terms of educational value are essential in achieving high quality water education. Jenny's presentation discusses the issues faced by swim schools and presents a solution that could be applied globally. Water Discovery's custom designed web application, The Lesson Planner achieves this while allowing teachers to express their individuality through their lessons. The Lesson Planner is a resource which provides a place to store information, train and motivate teachers and generate feedback. www.waterdiscovery.org also provides a forum which aims to unify swim teachers around the world.


Carlos Santos and Eduarda Santos Veloso - "Baby Aquatic Balance Assessment"

At the Wellington 2007 Conference Carlos and Eduarda presented the Underwater Orientation and Breathing Control assessment tools. Those tools permit us to know where the baby is in the learning process. With this knowledge, the teacher can better re-program the activities in the pool and can better inform the parents about the next goals as well as to check if the child is performing the expected competencies for his/her age.

The same scientific approach was made in the last two years, this time focusing on the Baby Aquatic Balance dimension. They will share with us this well validated tool and corresponding data from the assessment of over 100 children in their program.


Anne Asterhall - "Why and How to Implement the Halliwick Concept Into Babyswimming"

Halliwick is based on principles of hydrostatics, hydrodynamics and kinesiology. It is an holistic approach, bringing together knowledge about; the water and the body; teaching and learning; motivation, challenge, activities, games and music; group dynamics, disability equality issues and swimming strokes.

Anne will guide us through a ten point program; Points 1 and 2 are Mental Adjustment, which includes breathing control, relaxation and disengagement, the process of becoming independent in the water. Both are points the swimmer has to deal with as each new skill is introduced. The control of rotational forces are covered in points 3 to 6, then comes learning about Upthrust, Balance and Turbulent Gliding (points 7 to 9) and finally Propulsion.

Ulrika Faerch - "A Study on Attachment and Self-Esteem In Baby Swimming"

(This is a joint session co-presented with Noa Glotter of Israel as noted above)


Jess Thompson

Paul Thompson - "Teaching Babies to Swim; A Serious Business"

Jess and Paul will show us how they manage 29 Water Babies franchises with more than 16,000 clients in 5 countries! They will share with us their baby swim program, training instructors, quality control, PR and marketing, taking exceptional underwater photos, and their unique product development line.


Bryan Crane

Lana Whitehead - "Move and Learn; The Power of Movement"

Bryan and Lana co-present a fascinating exploration into the area's of the brain that control learning and how they are affected and stimulated by movement and how movement develops the nervous system. They will highlight the benefits of early childhood movement as applied to baby swimming.

"Incorporating Water Safety and Survival Skills into Your Program"

In the United States, drowning is the leading cause of accidental injury and death in the pediatric age group. Drowning is also the major cause of accidental death in Australia and New Zealand for children under five. The goal for water safety lessons is to prepare the child for an emergency situation if he falls into the water accidentally. Bryan and Lana will guide us through the SWIMkids water safety methods.

Jan Emler - "Child Behavior in Swim Students 3 and Under"

A curriculum for babies and three year olds is a living, breathing thing. It changes and grows each year. After 34 years of teaching babies, Emler Swim School continues to make significant changes to their curriculum. Jan is very excited to share what they have learned. Her goal is to give participants many practical ideas and tips to take back to their swim programs. She will review; Typical behavior of babies and their parents, How to approach these behaviors to successfully teach babies to swim and she will apply these same concepts to the three year olds.

Debbie Marrs-Sayers - "Aquatic Infant Beginnings-Connecting the Natural Aquatic Environment from Birth"

Debbie will present a practical program orientation and presentation guide for Aquatic Educators. Her focus is on the 0-6 month age group for reflexes, development and application. This presentation will set the stage with an orientation to prepare clients to celebrate with their unique child in the water and to maximize their lesson success.

Frank Sahlein - "Your Business Can Thrive Even in Tough Economic Times"

Frank pioneered the Children's Learning Opportunity Center concept in a massive working lab of 35,000 square feet of synergistic programs. The management systems that Frank has designed allow the Wings Center to be run with minimal owner time. Today he focuses on helping businesses to have; "Best Practices, Breakthrough Programs and Blockbuster Profits". Hang on to your seat, Frank will provide an exciting ride to your business success even in challenging times!

Please Note:

Speaker Biographies and Websites are posted under the Speaker Profiles section.

* Underwater baby photo's by Tricia Ann Roy (Australia)