July 26, 2010: SNN: Fear of Swimming
People from around the world with a fear of swimming have traveled to Sarasota to attend the Miracle Swimming Institute and overcome their obstacles. SNN6 and Herald Tribune covered our Beginning class this past week. Last night we were on the news (SNN6) and it ran all weekend.
You may need to click twice for the video to play.
You may need to click twice for the video to play.
Rachel Hackney | April 1, 2010
Bill and Melinda Gates want to conquer malaria. Mary Ellen "Melon" Dash has an equally profound goal: conquering people’s fear of the water.
If you spend even a little time with Dash, you believe she’ll succeed long before the Gateses will, even though she’s aiming well into the future – the year 2106 – to end preventable drownings.
Dash clearly is not a woman of platitudes and empty promises. Warmth emanates from her appropriately green-blue eyes and vibrancy rings in her voice.
Read the original article
February 26, 2010: POWER 25
Miracle Swimming Institute
By Kendra Kozen | February 2010
When Melon Dash realized that probably half of the 20 adults she was teaching to swim were more concerned about just staying alive in the water than whether they were moving their arms and legs correctly, she knew there had to be a better way.
That was in 1978, when Dash was a water safety instructor at Keene State College in New Hampshire. Since then, she has started the Miracle Swimming Institute in Sarasota, Fla., and introduced a somewhat revolutionary adult learn-to-swim approach that could someday become the basis for all swim lessons.
February 26, 2010: The Water Gym
Programming Your Pool for Fitness & Fun
By Jessica Royer Ocken
Survey the scene at pools, aquatic centers and waterparks around the country, and it's easy to see that water-based facilities have come a long way in recent years. But while zero-depth entry and splashy spraygrounds provide patrons an abundance of cutting-edge equipment options, the programming offered at these aquatic wonderlands may be lagging behind.
Sure, a water climbing wall and deluxe twisty slide don't require a formal program to make them fun, but how will you keep your constituents coming back after they've mastered the wall and slid the slide too many times to count? And what about those who aren't ever going to set foot on the slide or climbing wall? Your beautiful aquatic oasis is not just for the under-12 set, is it?
By Jessica Royer Ocken
Survey the scene at pools, aquatic centers and waterparks around the country, and it's easy to see that water-based facilities have come a long way in recent years. But while zero-depth entry and splashy spraygrounds provide patrons an abundance of cutting-edge equipment options, the programming offered at these aquatic wonderlands may be lagging behind.
Sure, a water climbing wall and deluxe twisty slide don't require a formal program to make them fun, but how will you keep your constituents coming back after they've mastered the wall and slid the slide too many times to count? And what about those who aren't ever going to set foot on the slide or climbing wall? Your beautiful aquatic oasis is not just for the under-12 set, is it?
The Spring Quarter issue of PADI's (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) Undersea Journal carries Miracle Swimming Institute's first foray into the dive industry. AT LAST! Thank you, PADI and Julie Taylor Sanders. The 5 Circles Teaching Method is just as important in diving as in swimming.
The article is not online. News on it upcoming when I see it in hard copy.
The article is not online. News on it upcoming when I see it in hard copy.
May 06, 2009: Cover Story in Athletic Business Magazine: "Swim School"
The May issue of Athletic Business gave us our first cover story. Standing ovation, Athletic Business!
By: Michael Popke
May 2009
Summary: Helping adults overcome a lifelong fear of the water requires as much attention to comfort and confidence-building as it does to skills development.
When Mitch Klitzka walked into her office for the first time three years ago as the new aquatics specialist for the Town of Castle Rock, Colo., a book she'd never seen before was waiting on her desk. Conquer Your Fear of Water: An Innovative Self-Discovery Course in Swimming, written by longtime competitive swimmer and Miracle Swimming Institute founder Melon Dash, explains why so many adults are afraid to swim and presents a strategy for helping them feel comfortable and confident in the water. "It's a good thing my predecessor left it there," Klitzka says.
By: Michael Popke
May 2009
Summary: Helping adults overcome a lifelong fear of the water requires as much attention to comfort and confidence-building as it does to skills development.
When Mitch Klitzka walked into her office for the first time three years ago as the new aquatics specialist for the Town of Castle Rock, Colo., a book she'd never seen before was waiting on her desk. Conquer Your Fear of Water: An Innovative Self-Discovery Course in Swimming, written by longtime competitive swimmer and Miracle Swimming Institute founder Melon Dash, explains why so many adults are afraid to swim and presents a strategy for helping them feel comfortable and confident in the water. "It's a good thing my predecessor left it there," Klitzka says.
October 10, 2008: Donna Seebo
August 12, 2008: Miracle Swimming With Melon Dash
Melon Dash, longtime OPEN EXCHANGE lister, offers Miracle Swimming in our Fitness section, this page. Portions of this article are reprinted from Play, The New York Times sports magazine, March 2, 2008.
I was raised in a sedentary household. I can't recall seeing either of my parents swim or throw a ball or even break into a trot. My father's sole concession to fitness was a pre-cocktail hour round-trip stroll to the end of our road, about a sixteenth of a mile distant, with stops along the way to chat with anyone who happened to be out raking the yard or unloading groceries. My mother had a gizmo she referred to as an exercycle, a set of chintzy pedals — no chain, no resistance — mounted on a small aluminum stand. This enabled her to "exercise" while sitting in her easy chair, which she did while sipping Sanka and watching Walter Cronkite. I don't think it ever occurred to her to that it might be nice to purchase an actual bicycle and take it for a spin in the New Hampshire countryside.
April 11, 2008: As swim-lesson season hits, adults will try to overcome fears
The Press-Enterprise
For decades, Nancy Van Landingham hid a secret that was too embarrassing to tell anyone -- even her closest friends.
Van Landingham, 65, of Rancho Mirage, could not swim and she was afraid of the water.
March 02, 2008: I, Guppy
Published: March 2, 2008
To the outside observer, my Miracle Swimming class doesn’t look all that miraculous. One student floats facedown like a Mafia victim. Another grips the poolside ladder. I’m floating like a channel buoy, bobbing up and then back under the surface. The miracle is that we’re all in nine feet of water, a place none of us would have gone two classes ago.
Though the instructors at the Miracle Swimming Institute (which runs this class) excel at many strokes, they do not teach them to beginners. Their methods teach one thing: comfort in water of any depth. From that, they maintain, the movements to propel oneself will follow spontaneously.
