ON VIDEO: Toddler who falls in pool puts survival swim skills to use

MILFORD, Mass. — A two-year-old girl who fell into her family pool put her survival swim skills to use, as seen in a home security video.

The toddler was walking toward a beach ball when she accidentally stepped off the edge of the pool and fell into the water before quickly resurfacing, turning and floating on her back as her father immediately swam to her rescue.

The girl, whose name Boston 25 News is not using at her parents’ request, learned those skills in a six-week survival swimming class run by certified survival swim instructor Kristin Bates.

Bates owns Dolphin Tail Infant Aquatics, teaching survival swim lessons as well as weekly or monthly maintenance classes to babies and young children at the DoubleTree in Milford.

“I’m so proud of her. It just makes my job even more rewarding,” Bates said of her student. “She did exactly what she was taught to do. She flipped over and floated and waited, and Dad was there within seconds.”

The student’s mother shared the video with Bates, who posted it on her business social media pages, racking up 1.7 million views.

“I’m just a small, little business in a small, little town,” Bates said. “And I never thought it would get that many views or shares.”

Drowning is the leading cause of death in children aged one to four and the second-leading cause in kids aged five to 14.

“Drowning is silent,” Bates said. “There’s no splashing, there’s no yelling like you think there is. It’s panic, and it’s in seconds.”

Bates stressed having multiple safety mechanisms in place, as her student did.

Her parents were supervising, her father was nearby in the pool, and there were gates and other safety features, Bates said.

But survival swim classes, she said, save lives. And those lessons include learning what to do when falling into water fully clothed, as her student did.

“You think that you’re always watching, but things happen,” Bates said. “Kids get away, kids slip away… Survival swim really, truly does save lives.”

The student’s mother, who preferred to be unnamed, provided a statement to Boston 25 News about the incident that occurred while her daughter is enrolled in monthly swim maintenance classes.

“As parents, we are so proud of our daughter for using her skills in this situation and can’t thank Kristin enough,” she wrote. “We continue to provide layers of protection, but have the ease of knowing her skills will kick in.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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