National Learn to Swim Day is May 17

**I received products to test as a thank you for this post. All opinions are my own.**

Last year I was approached by SwimWays, a company doing everything they can to make sure every child knows how to swim. They have innovative products – like the SeaSquirts Finned float vests that my kids love so much! This year, when they came to me again, I jumped on board immediately. With three daughters under 8 and one mom with two eyes, my kids have got to be fish out of water. Since we go to the pool almost daily during the summer, National Learn to Swim Day is an awesome reminder that my kids need to brush up on their skills!

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Saturday, May 17, 2014 will be the third annual National Learn to Swim Day, and it’s the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim. With summer right around the corner, learning this invaluable life skill is even more essential for fun as well as for safety.

I have already scheduled swim lessons for my kids this year but the pool parties are already under way. We just had one last weekend where the moms there were so interested in the SwimWays gear that we actually got online on our phones and looked through the entire line.

I am a HUGE fan of the SeaSquirts vests. Not only do kids want to wear them because they are ‘so cool mom’, but they leave their arms free to move and help keep them afloat without the possible attachment to floaties. Since this was our first pool party f the year, Sarah and Megan easily zipped theirs on and jumped in. The vests helps give them great confidence while they relearned to move their arms and legs. By the end of the party, Sarah was swimming the length of the pool with no vest. Without the vest, she would have taken a lot longer to get re-acclimated to the pool.

My little one is still one of those kids that takes an entire pool party to put her head under water. But when I  – or she because it is so easy – zips up the vest, she actually WANTS to paddle around the pool. I know she will safely be above water and I love that confidence!  With removable pads that shrink the support of float while they swim, these vests can last the entire swim season.

According to the American Red Cross, drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages one to 14. If we work together to promote the importance of swimming, we can improve this scary statistic and make water wonderful for everyone.

My oldest is to the next phase of swimming – learning strokes, breathing and so on. So I am looking forward to strapping on her Power Swimr. This neat device consists of 2 pads that strap around their midsections. With layers of removable pads, they help keep kids middles up while they are learning the strokes. As they get more confident, you can remove the layers and that let’s them build up skills they need.

Memorial Day is right around the corner and that means pools, beaches, lakes and more will be crawling with kids. Make sure your kids have the right gear, that you keep an eye on them and that they are confident in the water!