History of Swim to Shore: How the Business Got Up and Running

Written by: Rylie Shore

With “Swim to Shore” branded as the business name, a giant hole in the ground being plastered in the backyard, and an unwavering passion to teach swim lessons, Casie Shore was only missing two things to start her business: students and a business license. Pennies pinched, her advertising tactic was to print flyers and disperse them at the gym and bowling alley’s kid’s clubs, while she simultaneously applied for the proper certifications. When summer finally rolled around, it brought with it a business license with her name on it and a sum of a dozen students.

In hopes of helping boost Swim to Shore’s clientele, Casie’s brother developed a website just in time for the following summer’s heat to arrive. The online presence increased the community’s awareness of her business, but as community members called to enroll, she found that about 90% of her new customers heard about Swim to Shore through word of mouth. As the number of students increased, word of her business spread like wildfire.

Within three years of opening her dream, she reached the maximum number of hours she could teach in a given week. Unwilling to keep interested students from learning water safety, she brought another instructor into the backyard, and not too soon after, the demand for swim lessons required yet another instructor. The backyard pool not big enough to hold more than one lesson at a time, and one of three instructors in the water all hours of daylight Monday through Friday, Casie’s startup business reached its maximum capacity within five years of its opening.

unnamed-3 Being the passionate dreamer that she is, Casie stubbornly refused to accept that interested customers could not receive swimming lessons due to limited pool space. If that was the only hesitation to serving the needs of her customer base, all she needed was a larger pool, right? Well that was what she thought, and that was all it took to set her dreams to wandering outside the confines of her backyard space.

HISTORY OF SWIM TO SHORE: Where & Why the Dream Started

Written by: Rylie Shore

Water sloshed toward the lane line as six-year-old Casie Shore jumped into the pool for her first competitive race. The event was a 25-freestyle (for our non-swimmers, this is only one lap), and her uncoordinated arm flails and dragging feet barely inched her to the other side. When her arm reached out to grab the wall, applause erupted from the now-standing crowd who was celebrating the last competitor in the water making it to the other side.

Three months later, she improved enough to help her relay team to the finals, and her obsession with the water was solidified. Four years later, she broke the Orange County Record and was ranked top 10 in the nation for the 50-breaststroke. Fueled to work harder, she upped her race to the 100-breaststroke, competing in Junior Nationals and CIF all four years of high school. It wasn’t until age 20 that she swam her last competitive race.

As she got married and had two children, her time commitments were placed into her family rather than the pool, but her passion for the water never died. When the kids grew and entered school, she had to help provide some income and couldn’t find any jobs that fit into school time. Plans for a backyard pool already underway, she had the epiphany that her love of swimming and love of children could be combined into a dream job. unnamed

With a passion and a pool, she decided to offer swim lessons out of her backyard. Her motivation to start this small business was to offer a service that would help save lives and impart a love of swimming. Her hope was that all students who came through her backyard would find confidence in the water and that the confidence would enable them to safely get out of any potentially stressful swimming situation. Because there are so many pools in our community and the ocean is not too far away, she wanted to offer everyone the opportunity to find their confidence in the water.

This dream and vision catching momentum, all she was missing to start her business was a name. She sat in her backyard looking at the freshly built pool and thought, “Swim to Casie sounds stupid… but Swim to Shore sounds perfect!” To this day she stills jokes that she married the right guy. With the decision to make the business name a play off their last name, it was time to get the word out for summer swim lessons.

The False Security of Water Wings

Written by: Rylie Shore

Though innocently disguised in bright reds and blues or patterns of flowers, water wings (also known as “floaties”) are one of the more dangerous “safety” devices and can actually hinder a child’s process of learning to swim. It is ironic, we know, that the flotation device you buy to keep your child above water can actually be a drowning hazard. But before you trust the blow up device you slip over your child’s arm, here are a few things to consider:

Water wings give parents a false sense of security. When children have on water wings, parents are less likely to watch their children swimming in the pool. However, water wings easily slip off a child’s arm because they are not secured to their body, and accidents can happen when parents are not attentive.

Water wings are also not well designed to keep a child upright. If the water wings shift slightly or a child gets off balance while wearing them, the flotation device can actually keep a child face down in the water. Because the water wings limit a child’s range of motion, it is difficult for children to get themselves upright again.

Water wings give a child confidence in the water that the child associates with their ability to swim rather than the flotation device keeping them above water. Even when they are not wearing the water wings, they oftentimes still believe they can swim and will attempt to do so without supervision.

Water wings force children into a vertical position, but people are most buoyant when they are horizontal in the water. The help of the flotation device takes away the ability for a child to feel their body float naturally in the water.

Water wings can stunt a child’s process of learning how to swim. Because they give children false confidence and force their body into positions that are unnatural in the water, it can be difficult to re-teach them a healthy relationship with the water.

Though we know it is tempting to throw some water wings on the kids and let them move freely about the pool, it is not worth the risk of drowning. When enjoying a day in the pool, avoid the water wings by swimming with the kids or getting them into swim lessons early. In instances where a flotation device is absolutely necessary (such as a lake), use a life vest instead of water wings. There are so many ways for you and your children to enjoy the water, even without the water wings, so we hope to see you out in the pool this summer!

Health Benefits of Swimming

Written By: Rylie Shore

You are helping your kids learn water safety and develop a love of swimming by having them in swim lessons, but did you know that swimming also offers you some awesome health benefits? We are so excited that you are setting your children up for a lifetime of loving the water, and we want to share with you some of the benefits that you can gain by getting in the water too:

Adult Swimming

Swimming is a lifelong sport. Unlike football, running, and other “land” sports that become hard on your body over time, swimming is a sustainable activity that can be continued over the course of your lifetime. People into their nineties have been known to swim for exercise, so you can too!

Swimming is low impact, meaning it is easy on your skeletal system and joints because the water supports much of your weight (up to 90%!). Because of the way the water carries your body, swimming is good for people of differing ages and weights and is a good recovery activity for those healing from injuries.

Swimming is dynamic and can be tailored to your athletic abilities. For a high-intensive cardio workout, swim sets can be fast-paced to increase your heart rate. If you are just getting back into shape, laps can be done at a slow place while still building muscle and increasing heart rate. Water aerobics also offers an activity that takes weight off of joints while still getting people moving!

Swimming builds and tones muscle through the resistance of the water. Though the water allows for an activity that is low-impact, the water’s resistance engages all the muscles in your body to build full-body strength and tone your muscles. Who doesn’t want a little extra muscle in their abs, back, arms and legs?

Swimming is just all around healthy! Because swimming is an aerobic exercise, it will lead to a healthier heart if done on a regular basis. And like other physical activity, it lowers cholesterol and lowers your chances of getting diabetes. It also decreases your stress and increases your spirits through the releasing of endorphins!

If you haven’t tried swimming for exercise, now is a great time to start! Check out 100 Swimming Workouts for ideas on some good workouts, EnduranceWorks for some videos of different swimming drills, U.S. Masters Swimming for masters team options, or see a local gym for different swimming programs they might offer. Whatever your swimming abilities and background, find a pool and start swimming!