This course focuses on the specialized skills swim instructors need to teach children with sensory processing behaviors and other special needs. Instructors will learn the vocabulary to use when discussing special needs, how to interpret different behaviors, how to manage real-world scenarios, and how to ensure that children with special needs learn the skills they need for independence in the water. Recommended for advanced swim instructors.

For more information or group discounts, contact Nina at hello@swimfoundations.com.

Instructor: Nina (Natina) Gibbs

Nina comes from a big swimming family with deep entrepreneurial roots. She started swimming competitively at 4, and at 16 left to obtain her bachelor’s degree at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, where she continued swimming and was recognized with the All American and Student Athlete awards. Carrying forward the family tradition of teaching swimming — started over 45 years ago by her mother, local swim teaching legend Phoebe Natina — Nina began teaching private lessons on her own as a teenager.

She has coached beginning age group swimmers for the Redding Swim Team and California Capital Aquatics in Sacramento, CA. In San Diego, she co-founded a developmental swim team program at the Toby Wells YMCA. Since her return to Redding in 2009, she has continued to teach private swim lessons and support learn-to-swim programs in the area.

Phoebe Natina started teaching swimming lessons at the age of 17, after learning from swim instructor Carl Eddington. She has spent over 40 years teaching and developing a method that truly allows children to become safe and confident in the water. Today, parents drive from hours away just so their children can learn from her (sometimes even after trying other swim programs). Her teaching has become incredibly sought after in the area — in part because of her experience, and in part because of the specific swim teaching progression she employs.

Swim Foundations was developed by Phoebe’s daughter, Nina, so that the Natina Swim Teaching Progression can be shared with the learn-to-swim industry to develop highly effective and confident swim instructors. Our aim is to help children everywhere be safe and happy in the water.