Erin Wamsteeker founded Just Keep Swimming, a swim program for children with neurological or developmental disabilities. The mission is to teach these children to swim confidently, play safely, and exercise comfortably in the water. Erin has a degree in kinesiology and 19 years of competitive swimming experience. She realized the benefits of swimming for children with disabilities after volunteering with a physiotherapist's adaptive physical activity programs. Just Keep Swimming provides small personalized lessons taught by instructors with disabilities training and swimming experience. The goal is to boost the children's confidence and self-esteem through learning to swim.

1. My name is Erin Wamsteeker and my vision is to enable kids with neurological or
developmental disabilities to enjoy the water. My program is called Just Keep
Swimming.
The mission of Just Keep Swimming is teaching kids and youth with neurological
or developmental disabilities to swim confidently, play safely and exercise comfortably
in the water.
I studied Kinesiology at the University of Calgary and earned a degree in
Leadership, Pedagogy and Coaching. I was a competitive swimmer for nineteen years,
and swam on the University of Calgary Dinos team while pursuing my degree. My
passion for working with children and helping them succeed through physical activity
combined with my years of competitive swimming experience inspired me to start
coaching swimming. Over my eight years as a swim coach I have helped nationally-
ranked and recreational level kids excel both in and out of the pool.
During my third year of university I met a physiotherapist named Michelle Kelly
through an Adaptive Physical Activity course I was taking in school. Michelle Kelly
Physiotherapy offers a variety of Bridge to Sport programs for children with neurological
and developmental disabilities, including; gross motor, strength in sport and fitness in a
sport or gym settings. I volunteered in Michelle’s gym gross motor groups as well as her
therapeutic swim program. This program helped me to realize the incredible benefits
swimming could offer to children with neurological and developmental delays. This
catalyzed the idea for a swim program that could be designed to these needs: Just Keep
Swimming.
In September 2014, I decided to run my first session of lessons for kids with
disabilities. I was overwhelmed by the number of parents interested in having their
child/children with a disability participate in my program. Not only did the first session
fill but I also received enough registrants for a second session. Now six months later, all
sessions offered up to June 2015 are over-subscribed.
In Just Keep Swimming, kids have the opportunity to swim with instructors and
aides with specific training and experience in neurological and developmental
disabilities. This facilitates a more structured response to behavioral outbursts or
distractions. All instructors must attend a training session with both Michelle Kelly and
myself. We cover possible scenarios of how a child might act or react due to their
specific disability and the most appropriate way to respond to a number of situations. All
instructors come from a swimming background - we have instructors with introductory
competitive, national level and Olympic swimming experience.
While I do believe hiring instructors with a swim background is beneficial, the
most important quality an instructor must have is the desire and passion to help kids with
disabilities succeed in and out of the water.

2. During lessons all instructors work one on one or maximum two on one with the
kids. This allows every swimmer to progress individually but also encourages
socialization with peers during games or group skills. Lessons are directed towards
celebrating each child’s unique abilities.
Growing up with my sister who has a cognitive auditory processing disorder
taught me to respect that we all learn in different ways. It was easy to see the difference
an understanding teacher or instructor or even a parent made for her to learn and enjoy
what she was doing when someone took an interest in her. I admire how hard she works
when learning a new task. She thrives - given the right opportunity with the right
teacher.
Persons with disabilities are often left out causing them to lose confidence. Just
Keep Swimming is designed to boost their level of confidence and self esteem and I have
seen tremendous results through using this as my guiding principle. We are building
confidence and compece and have received wonderful feedback from the
parents/caregivers of these children. We are finding kids in our program look forward to
their swim times with us, are enjoying the learning process and accomplishing things they
are very proud of.
There are many benefits of participating in Just Keep Swimming from the small-
personalized classes to the expertise of the instructors I bring on board to help teach with
me. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect however is the learning and confidence that comes
from a child acquiring the skills to swim and play safely in the water. My instructors
love and passion for these kids can be seen at every session and I truly believe this
program helps the kids I teach more than just learn to swim – it gives them a chance to
have the same opportunity for participation in an activity that is as crucial to their
childhood and adolescence as their peers. My program enables kids and youth with
neurological or developmental disabilities the opportunity to learn to swim confidently,
play safely and Just Keep Swimming.