John Sevier Elementary gets back in the swim of things | News

Several of the second graders at John Sevier Elementary School started this Swim Week with no pool experience, since the event was canceled last year, but everyone is back in the water now.

With lifeguards and plenty of volunteers at the John Sevier Pool adjacent to the campus, teacher Alex Rouse is ensuring students in grades one through three learn water safety and strengthen their skills over five days of lessons this week.

“We had to stagger first grade because we had so many children who couldn’t swim,” Rouse said.

The physical education teacher also manages the local pools for the Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Recreation Commission and saw attendance up this summer, with many students swimming with the schools’ extended care program or their families. “You could tell the community was ready,” he said, referring to when the pools opened.

Colored plastic ties on their wrists this week show whether the children are beginner, intermediate or advanced swimmers.

Roger Murphy, attendance coordinator for Maryville City Schools, first ensures they learn basic water safety, “even things grownups don’t think to do,” Rouse said, such as tossing floating objects to help someone struggling in the water.

Beginner swimmers start the week becoming comfortable in the water, and by Friday are ready to practice freestyle swimming and self-rescue floats.

One of the first lessons is to not hold their noses. “You’re a lot better swimmer with two hands than one,” Rouse tells them.

Intermediate swimmers progress by week’s end to the backstroke, and advanced swimmers are treading water, performing self-rescues and practicing deep water safety.

Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 10, Rouse was reviewing with the third grade intermediates. “Tell me again what body part helps us swim the most,” he asked, and after they answered “legs,” he reminded them that their arms steer and provide more power.

Next they were floating on their backs and kicking.

Meanwhile Murphy was coaching the advanced swimmers to improve their freestyle form, holding their hands like spoons instead of forks, for example.

“You’ve got to get those elbows up and out of the water,” he told the third graders.

Then he showed them how to breathe like the Olympic swimmers. “It’s going to take a little practice, but you will swim twice as fast,” Murphy told them.