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           Ed Pemberton teaches Charlie, 6, to swim under water.

    When Robert W. took his two grandsons, Charlie, 6 and Carter, 4, out on the lake in his boat for an afternoon of fun, he had reason for concern. As a safety precaution he routinely fitted the boys with life jackets before they took the plunge into the water. However, he soon noticed the boys had minimal swimming skills. In fact, he was concerned that if the boys were to ever fall into a lake without life jackets, they might drown due to their lack of swimming skill.

  With this in mind, Robert decided to take the boys for professional swim instruction. Searching the internet, he found a local public swimming pool where lessons were being offered. He soon learned you get what you pay for.

  “There was this college student giving the class,” said Robert. “He couldn’t have been 18 or 19-years- old and he was probably making minimum wage on a summer job as a swim instructor and, quite frankly, I was disappointed in the class.”

  Robert noticed a lack of regimented teaching in the class. What was supposed to be an organized teaching environment appeared more like playtime with children being left to their own devices and receiving little instruction. After four lessons, Robert was disillusioned with the classes and sought instruction elsewhere.

  A friend recommended he try AdventureSwim.com a swim school located in Knoxville. The school is owned and operated by Ed Pemberton, a certified swimming and SCUBA instructor, who has taught more than 30,000 people to swim and certified more than 5,000 SCUBA divers. 

 The boys’ grandfather enrolled the youths in private lessons and introduced them to a more regimented atmosphere. At AdventureSwim.com, the boys developed swimming skills, confidence in facing fears, discipline in learning a task, responsibility, strength and endurance.

   Pemberton holds degrees in sports medicine and mechanical analysis of motion which is the study of human motion in water.

Pemberton’s approach to teaching swimming is a program that was years in the making. Even the simplest task that would seem insignificant to the untrained eye is taken into consideration.

“I use long deluxe kick boards when teaching people to swim,” Pemberton said. “This is intended to keep the arms straight, which is the proper swimming position. Some people use small narrow boards but this allows people to bend their elbows and they learn the wrong way to move your arms when swimming.”

                   Pemberton gives instruction to Carter, 4.

  “It’s been said that ‘practice makes perfect.’ This statement is not quite accurate,” Pemberton said. “Repetition of the wrong technique sets them in stone. In reality ‘Practice makes permanent.’ It’s up to the instructor to make sure the right skills and techniques are made permanent.”

   Robert was quite pleased with his decision to seek Pemberton’s instruction.

“The results have been phenomenal,” said Robert. “They have only had three lessons each and already they are diving off the diving board, swimming across the pool and doing handstands. I never would have believed it. The difference is amazing. It’s like they went from zero to skillful in just three days.”

    Pemberton offers classes year round in his indoor heated pool. For more information about AdventureSwim.com visit the website or call 865-691-2525.