Our gentle methods create confident swimmers.
Marcia Davis
Marcia Davis began Angelfish Swim School with the outlook, experience and determination that children should learn to swim in a trusting, nurturing environment. At Angelfish, we structure our classes around each individual student. Classic “old school” and self-rescue swim instruction can be overwhelming and scary to many children causing undue stress, trauma and anxiety in and around water. Our difference is Marcia’s tried and true technique. Using age appropriate games, interactive play and positive reinforcement, our students learn to swim safely and happily with an understanding of water and bouyancy.
Each progressive step is reinforced, while undesired behavior simply is not. Marcia’s methods employ the use of active learning, props and behavior modification. The games and interactions she has created and refined ease anxiety as well as refocus distracted students and increase skills at each individual pace and comfort level.
Beginning her career at Miami Seaquarium, she had the honor to work with a diverse group of marine mammals – dolphins, whales and a very special Orca, Tokitae. Fascinated by animal behavior, Marcia moved further into the zoological field and began working with everything from otters to elephants in various zoos including Disney’s Animal Kingdom. By utilizing innovative reinforcement techniques to reduce stress and train behaviors like blood draws, foot care, dental work and other important veterinary procedures, the animals received better care without stress. Her work with these amazing animals fostered in her the teaching and training methods she employs today with her students.
In her book “Teach your child to swim the gentle way, with Positive Reinforcement” there are easy to follow methods to teach your child in a stress free, guided approach. Marcia’s experience training and working with such a variety of unique species enables her to share these invaluable skills with YOUR young mammal during their early water experience and learning to swim.
Teaching one's own child how to swim is perplexing to most parents. Knowing what skills to focus on first, how to reduce fear in your child and build confidence and above all, understanding the valuable steps in the process of learning to swim, will allow any parent to become their own child's personal swim instructor! In this easy to read, instructional guide, all the steps are laid out for you beginning with infants and toddlers up to pre-school and school age children. Even if you are not an expert swimmer, you can teach your child using positive reinforcement techniques and even become a confident swimmer yourself.
-Marcia Davis