Watching the decade-old footage of this little baby paddle underwater seems like the most natural thing in the world. Elizabeth, who turned 11 this January, began her swimming journey at just 6 months old; her parents capturing her most magical moments.
Elizabeth has plenty of other interests, but water remains her first love.
“She has always been a water fanatic”, dad Adam Christensen told The Epoch Times. “We would often take her to the pool before bed so she could work out her wiggles and she would sleep soundly through the night.”
Elizabeth also loves playing piano, writing songs, acting in school musicals, and fundraising for good causes—that spark extends into other areas of her life, too. “She is a very determined individual and when she has a goal in mind she doesn’t let it go,” said Adam, 38, a former NICU nurse with nine years of military combat medical experience.
The proud dad said that Elizabeth has even organized their neighbors and community to raise money and collect books to create a library in Kenya after one of her school friends moved back to Kenya a few years ago and complained that they didn’t have any good books or a library.
“My wife and I thought that was amazing”, said Adam. Later in life, the couple moved from Idaho to Texas with the then-9-month-old Elizabeth. They were suddenly surrounded by swimming pools.
Very conscious of the safety issue, the Christensens started to research infant self-rescue swimming instructors. Developed to teach very young children how to save themselves in the event they get into trouble in the water, Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) is a provider of self-rescue swimming lessons.
“The number of children drowning is astronomical,” said Adam. “I feel so bad for the parents. It’s easy to blame the ‘bad parents’ but the truth is, a moment of inattention shouldn’t cost a child their life.
“When it comes to children and water, the difference between life and death can be two inches of water and the child’s ability to flip over.”
Adam explains the process: “To graduate, the child is fully clothed in winter attire—to mimic a worst-case scenario—and flipped upside down in the pool to disorient them. Then they have to orient, flip over, and float to breathe.
“They then have to do what’s called ‘swim float swim,’ where they flip back over face down and swim a little, then flip over and float to breathe. They keep doing the ‘swim float swim’ until they reach the wall or the stairs where they can pull themselves out. Ilise did an amazing job.”
When she was 16 months old, little Elizabeth progressed to swimming right across the pool by herself.
“Children don’t typically swim across the pool”, said Adam. “They usually take the shortest route. But Elizabeth had lofty goals even as a toddler.
“I didn’t doubt she could do it physically. I had seen her do it several times when my wife or myself were right next to her.”
Adam and his wife share videos on YouTube of Elizabeth swimming, as a way of inspiring others to have a fun relationship with water.
“Providing opportunities is the best way to support a child,” said Adam. “When it comes to swimming and our YouTube channel, I tell Elizabeth that if she ever stops having fun doing this, she needs to tell us. Because if she isn’t enjoying it, then I don’t want to do it either.
“Honestly, I thought she would get bored of swimming years ago but here she is, still having fun.”
As well as being delightful to see, Elizabeth’s swimming adventures have become a source of instruction.
“There are many people out there who don’t know how to swim because they are scared of water,” said Adam. “Hopefully, we show them that water doesn’t have to be scary.
“So many people have learned to swim just from watching our videos, and that is what we hope to accomplish.”
