{"id":2157,"date":"2023-03-05T01:42:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T06:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/?p=2157"},"modified":"2023-07-24T23:37:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T03:37:59","slug":"swimfun-covered-by-first-coast-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/2023\/03\/05\/swimfun-covered-by-first-coast-news\/","title":{"rendered":"SwimFun Covered by First Coast News!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2157\" class=\"elementor elementor-2157\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0a62edb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0a62edb\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0efb138\" data-id=\"0efb138\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e71e61 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2e71e61\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 07-02-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><em>This article was originally published by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstcoastnews.com\/article\/news\/local\/swimfun-academy-teaches-kids-to-swim\/77-f8d7dfb7-fb5e-4d19-83c9-3d79abe0f47d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">First Coast News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><aside class=\"article__meta\"><div class=\"article__author\"><span class=\"article__meta-label\">Author:<\/span>\u00a0Rich Donnelly<\/div><div class=\"article__sharing\"><div class=\"article-sharing\" data-module=\"article-sharing\" data-initialized=\"true\" data-state=\"ready\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><\/aside><div class=\"article__body\"><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Drowning is one of the leading causes of death among children. According to the\u00a0CDC, more children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any other cause in the United States.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>But there&#8217;s a new business on the First Coast that hopes to teach kids to swim and learn to socialize at the same time.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>It may seem like a simple activity, but the act of jumping in the pool and floating is a big step for 6 year old Koan after going through lessons at SwimFun Academy.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_ad\"><div class=\"ad ad_position_article_mid1 ad_background_true\" data-module=\"ad\" data-status=\"new\" data-path=\"\/32805352\/fl-jacksonville-WTLV-B3319_DesktopTablet\/article_mid1\/news\/local\" data-sizes=\"[[300,250],[1,1],[750,570],[1,2]]\" data-delay=\"8\" data-lazy=\"false\" data-position=\"article_mid1\" data-refresh-interval=\"33\" data-refresh-enabled=\"true\" data-targeting-strnativekey=\"\" data-collapse=\"false\" data-ozone-placement-id=\"\" data-ozone-publisher-id=\"NPID10000003\" data-ozone-site-id=\"\" data-page-type=\"article\" data-initialized=\"true\" data-state=\"ready\"><div class=\"ad__inner ad__inner_border_true ad__inner_background_true\">&#8220;Being here in Florida, we have water everywhere,&#8221; said Paige Kirshner, Aquatics Director at SwimFun Academy. &#8220;So it&#8217;s important to have kids in lessons so they can save themselves in case there&#8217;s an accident.&#8221;<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>Koan is advancing through SwimFun&#8217;s one-on-one Survival Aquatics Program, which is also available to kids 6 months and older, like his younger sister Vivian.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>&#8220;They are learning how to rotate and get to a float from any position, so if they fall in sideways or head first they are able to rotate and get to their back,&#8221; said Kirshner.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>Koan has also learned how to kick to a wall or ladder, which is a huge reassurance for his mom after the family recently moved from Illinois to St. Johns County.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>&#8220;We have a pool in our back yard,&#8221; said Koan&#8217;s mom Amanda Burritt. &#8220;So it gives me piece of mind that God forbid I leave the door open or a kid gets out I know they&#8217;re going to be ok.&#8221;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>But SwimFun is more than just swim lessons.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>&#8220;SwimFun was born and bred on the First Coast,&#8221; said Bobby Panfili, &#8220;when they get out of the pool they have this environment that&#8217;s immersive and it&#8217;s fun and handling that mind, body and soul element.&#8221;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>In the same facility as the pool, there&#8217;s a virtual reality STEM lounge as well as a gaming area.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>&#8220;Roblox, Minecraft, things that kids play,&#8221; said Panfili, &#8220;but &#8216;re making it more of a socialization aspect.&#8221;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"article__section article__section_type_text utility__text\"><p>All with the hopes of not only teaching kids to swim, but to learn and make friends in the process. If you would like to learn more about SwimFun here is a link to their website:\u00a0https:\/\/swimfun.com\/.<\/p><\/div><p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstcoastnews.com\/article\/news\/local\/swimfun-academy-teaches-kids-to-swim\/77-f8d7dfb7-fb5e-4d19-83c9-3d79abe0f47d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View original article.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was originally published by&nbsp;First Coast News. Author:&nbsp;Rich Donnelly&nbsp; JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Drowning is one of the leading causes of death among children. According to the&nbsp;CDC, more children ages 1-4 die from drowning than any other cause in the United States.&nbsp; But there&#8217;s a new business on the First Coast that hopes to teach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2157"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2827,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions\/2827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aboveathleticcenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}