First Strokes

Sylvie Goldner, ‘21

May 2019

My name is Sylvie Goldner and I am a sophomore at BHSEC. This spring I have been offering free swim lessons to my classmates who have never had the opportunity to learn how to swim through my program First Strokes. I was inspired to start First Strokes as I am a competitive swimmer, and the water has been a place to comfort for me, but for many of my classmates it instills fear. Swimming is a safety skill that everyone should learn, but sadly between growing up in the city and the expensive costs of swim lessons, many children never learn how to swim. Plus, if a child’s parents don’t learn how to swim the likelihood that their child will learn the sport is only 13%. At first, the students in my class were afraid to go into the shallow end, but after several sessions, they are now swimming lengths of the pool (along with having mastered water safety skills). This summer I'm hoping to continue to offer more free swim lessons to students at BHSEC. Swimming has given me so much joy and I want to spread the love I have for the sport to others. My goal is to turn the pool from a place of fear into a world of endless fun. If you are interested in the program I will be sending more information out about it shortly, but in the meantime you can contact me at sg999m@bhsec.bard.edu. I’m excited to open up the world of swimming to allowing more students to take their first strokes.