Jack Sinko welcomed a gaggle of goggled kids to the McAvoy Natatorium Sept. 20 for their first swim lesson of the year.
Sinko, a junior, has served as the coordinator of community swim lessons for the Community Swim Club since the fall of 2014 and manages a group of swim instructors, who help him teach lessons. The club offers a variety of private, semi-private, and group lessons to anyone — from babies to adults — looking to learn their water basics.
“I feel this is a valuable program in our community as it is one way we can reach out to not just our faculty, staff, and sports complex members but to anyone in the community that wants to learn to swim,” Aquatics Director Rita Jenkins said in an email. “We are fortunate to have an indoor pool in this small community, and because of that, it is a joy to share it with others.”
All classes begin with the fundamentals of safe swimming until students are ready to advance.
“The swim lessons use a progression-based curriculum that I developed myself,” Sinko said. “The students are given report cards based on how they’re doing, and parents can go to all the lessons and watch.”
Sinko said he sees the benefits of starting swimmers out at a young age — even infancy. The club offers parent-baby private swim lessons.
“At that age, you can’t learn a skill, but you can learn a habit,” Sinko said. “It teaches little kids proper habits of being in water.”
Christie Campbell said she started her 10-year-old daughter, Kylie, in swim lessons because not knowing how to swim is a safety hazard.
“It’s not good to be scared of the water,” Campbell said. “You never know when you’ll get into a situation when you need to know how to swim.”
Sinko said he considers proficiency in swimming a basic element of safety, noting drowning is the second leading cause of death in children under 14 in Michigan.
“With so many lakes in the area, it is always a benefit to have young people and adults safe in and around the water,” Jenkins said.
Although the swim lessons make safety a priority, Sinko’s students always end up having fun in the water, parents said.
“They have a blast,” said Erin Sherrill, mother of twin 11-year-old swimmers Sydney and Kassidy. “They like Mr. Jack and were able to meet some new kids, too.”
New lessons begin almost every month. Contact Jack Sinko or the Jenkins’ office at 517-607-3159 to sign up.
