“Seawater is so similar in mineral content to human blood plasma that our white blood cells can survive and function in it for some time. I delight in my mental picture of this, the not-so-fanciful notion that we have seawater circulating in our veins.”
― Bonnie Tsui, Why We Swim
A series of swimming babies. “Infants as young as six months old successfully practicing advanced water survival techniques, rolling over, floating and even swimming underwater. Surprisingly, babies are programmed by instinct with two very helpful natural reflexes to help protect them against drowning.
“The diving reflex” is the first of these natural responses. Known properly as the “bradycardic response,” this is a natural reflex common to many mammals, including humans. When a baby is submerged in water, the natural survival reflex is to hold their breath and open their eyes. (It’s the same reaction you can provoke by blowing into your baby’s face.) Infants also react in other ways that are less obvious: heart rate decreases and blood is conserved in the vital organs. This allows for added survival ability underwater, typically until adult help arrives.
Secondly, until they are around six months old, babies placed tummy-down in water will wave and kick arms and legs in a motion close to that of swimming. This is not actual swimming, however it is a protective reflex that demonstrates babies are born hardwired with the ability to understand an aquatic environment and, with professional support, thrive within it.
Reflexes alone are not enough, baby swimming lessons are important for very young children to help them develop these natural tools into techniques that can save them in the event of a water emergency or drowning.”- Texas Swim Academy.
If you are interested in booking a session please feel free to contact me.
Stills/Portraits
Reef and Run is the premiere weekly ocean swim race series on the South Coast.
The event offers three swim race lengths: 500m, 1000m (1k,) and 1-mile at the iconic East Beach in Santa Barbara, CA.
Reef and Run is committed to supporting the next generation of ocean-loving swimmers through our support of the Santa Barbara Junior Lifeguards program. In the Spring of 2014, Reef and Run was honored by the City of Santa Barbara for our support of the Junior Lifeguards Program.
Examples of published and unpublished work.
