BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. -- A Naples mother is starting the new year with a commitment to keep children from drowning. A new program with an unique approach to protect kids around water is coming to Southwest Florida.
The owner, Bridget Davis has three kids and a baby on the way.
Her family recently moved to Naples from Pennsylvania.
They love being able to get in the water year-round.
“That’s our favorite part about being down here, my kids just love to swim,” said Davis.
She is currently working on a way to make sure every child is safe around the water after finding out Florida has more child drownings than any other state.
“As a parent that’s horrible to hear and totally heartbreaking,” said Davis.
63 children drowned in Florida in 2019, six in Southwest Florida.
“Our goal is to change the drowning statistic,” said Davis. “We want to bring that number down to zero. We don’t want any family to have to go through that pain of losing a child to something that’s totally preventable.”
Bridget and her husband, Jeff are opening the first Goldfish Swim School in Southwest Florida.
It’s part of a national franchise with more than 100 locations. It’s the same program that taught her kids how to swim when they lived up north.
The key, she said, is consistency.
“They are learning through repetition and play. It really taught our kids and gave us a piece of mind when we had our pool open that they were going to be safe,” said Davis.
Trained instructors are there to teach children, four months to 12 years old, on how to swim in a fun environment. Plus, they teach them how to be safe and confident in and around the water.
Right now, they are building the Goldfish Swim School on Trade Way Drive in Bonita Springs. They plan to open up for swim lessons in March.
For details on class information, prices and how to enroll your kids, click on this link.
