Local swimmers plunge into lessons
RANDOLPH - Shawn Kai looks forward to swim lessons every season perhaps just as much as his six grandchildren.
He enrolls his grandchildren - ranging in ages from 5 to 13 - in swimming lessons every year. He spends the hour with them in the pool at the lesson and then uses the rest of the day just spending time together whether that’s fishing, hiking, going to the park or hanging out at his rural Randolph farm.
“It’s tough for parents to do it, working 40-hour weeks, to get them there. In my position, I can take time off to do it and gives me that special time to be with them,” he said. “It has become a blessing.”
Kai said that while swimming is a basic life skill that every child should learn, his main goal is to remove any obstacles in their path to living a life of adventure if they choose to.
“I don’t want them to ever be afraid of the water. Not knowing how to swim can be an impediment to not do fun things like kayaking or white water river rafting. This is one less roadblock in front of them from doing the things they want,” he said.
Nearly 120 children will be learning from Kristina Swantek of Randolph this summer at the city pool with multiple sessions arranged to cater to different ability levels lasting all summer.
“It’s awesome but it’s a lot,” she said.
For younger children, Swantek teaches swimming and water safety basics like how to keep their heads above water and to “hop like a bunny” in the water for bobbing. In higher level classes, children learn how to float and the proper swimming strokes. And in the last stage of classes, they’ll learn diving and water rescue, among other fundamentals.
Swantek uses some of the same lessons she learned as a child taking lessons from Virgina Sellon of Randolph - a swimming lesson mainstay of about 40 years.
“She taught my mom even,” Swantek said. “I still use some of the lessons she did. I knew they worked so I brought them back.”
Progressing through her own lessons over the years lead Swantek to eventually assisting Sellon with younger children in the pool for about eight years.
Swantek worked for many years as a lifeguard and also previously managed the Randolph, Osmond and Belden pools.
Currently, Swantek runs a busy daycare out of her home. She also bakes cakes, sells makeup and art on the side, and is a mother of four, all under 7 years old.
She wasn’t exactly looking for anything else to do but it wasn’t a hard sell when the city came calling last year, looking for someone to offer swim lessons once again.
Now in her second season teaching, Swantek would feel like a fish out of water if she didn’t continue.
“I knew that it was a need,” she said. “I looked into it more and I thought I could make it work and I’m really glad I did because I really, really enjoy it.”
