Near drownings prompt reminders for swimming safety

(FOX 11) - Sunday, a one-year-old boy nearly drowned in a Victorville backyard pool. The good news…help came quickly.

The child was airlifted to a local hospital and airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center where he's now in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

Many miles away in Santa Monica, Ashley Kelsheimer says, "It breaks my heart..as a mom, I can't even imagine anything happening to her let alone something scary like that." "Her," being her 1-year-old daughter Olivia. her dad, Dave Kelsheimer, is an Olympic swim coach with Team Santa Monica.

He says, "The number one cause of accidental death for small children is drowning. So, it's critical that we teach them how to swim."

Ever since Olivia was 6-months old, Kelsheimer has been teaching Olivia, building her confidence, showing her how to get to safety. As Dad and Olivia are in the water Mom tells us what they are doing. She says, "The edge of the pool is hard, but we want to teach her to swim and get confident getting to the edge of the pool. So, we prep her with our 1-2-3.. up and down. She'll hold her breath on the cue and then she swims over to the side of the pool and grabs onto the mat. Good job baby."

There's a big smile there from Dad too.

We talked to many at the Santa Monica Swim Center...parents, kids. We heard a dad tell his little girl, "Always stay near the edge. No horseplay. No goofing around."

Meanwhile, Dave Kelsheimer shares this advice from his mentor, Australian swim coach Laurie Lawrence. He says, "FIVE ALIVE…do the 5…fence the pool, shut the gate, teach your kids to swim…it's great. Supervise. Watch your mates and learn to resuscitate."

Good advice.

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