The Heart of Pool Education: Why I Wrote the Pool School Books

Learning to swim always came easy for me.

My parents enrolled me in swim lessons before I could walk, at a wonderful place called Pool School. With steady attendance I was swimming all four strokes and on my first swim team by 6 years old. It was only much later in life that I learned how uncommon of an experience this is.

When I got back into swim coaching after 10 years away from the sport, I began using the same imagery and techniques I was taught back at Pool School. Incredibly, those same tips and tricks worked on the kids I was coaching - just as they did for me!

I started to think about the parents who have a pool in their backyard, or want to take their child swimming, but have no idea what to say or what to do with them.

That gap is why I wrote the Pool School books.

A parent reading a Pool School book to her child.

The idea really clicked when I noticed there was nothing quite like Pool School available to kids or parents.

I didn’t set out to become a children’s author. I just kept thinking, 'There has to be a better way to teach kids about swimming outside of lessons.' I wanted to create something they could take home. Something that made swimming feel familiar instead of intimidating. Something that intertwined learning with a fun, engaging children's story.

Each book focuses on a specific stroke - Front Crawl, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly - while also incorporating important life lessons.

At their core, it’s really about confidence. It’s about showing kids that it’s okay to be nervous. That learning something new can feel hard at first. And that they are capable of more than they think.

A parent reading a Pool School book to his child.

Maybe most importantly, I wrote these books because I believe learning to swim should be accessible to every child.

For me, Pool School isn’t just a book series. It’s a way to get kids excited about learning to swim while giving parents a helpful resource to use the next time you want to go swimming with your child.

If these stories can help a child walk into their next lesson feeling just a little bit braver? Well, that’s exactly why I wrote it.

To discover the Pool School books or to learn more, click HERE!