“It’s kind of a hike to get up to Crestview, especially at the time of day we’re offering lessons. We want to be able to reach those families and open up another opportunity for people to get lessons if the drive or time constraints and schedules were an issue for them,” operating manager Grace Rosenbaum said. “We just want to be available to as many people as possible.”
Being an outdoor pool, lessons will be weather permitting. Instructor Cooper Martin is excited to be teaching the Valparaiso students, starting mid-March.
Another exciting addition to Lori’s H2O Skills is the launch of travel swim lessons, designed with busy families in mind, bringing expert instruction straight to your backyard. Their certified instructors provide private, one-on-one swim lessons in the comfort of your own pool, creating a familiar and relaxed learning environment. This convenient option eliminates travel time while delivering the same trusted, high-quality instruction that families rely on to build confidence, safety, and strong swimming skills.
With their main location at 577 Brookmeade Drive in Crestview, Lori’s H2O Skills is a professional learn-to-swim program for all ages, beginning at three months all the way through adulthood.
By day, the highly maintained pool is used by Crestview Physical Therapy, and from 4 to 8 p.m. weekdays, this two-lane pool is used for private one-on-one lessons with the Lori’s H2O Skills team. On Saturdays, swim lessons are offered from 8 a.m. to noon.
The experienced team shares a passion and love for teaching and safety. Grace Rosenbaum is the operating manager of the Crestview location and does most of the teaching. Amy Conover is the general manager and splits her time between Crestview and Ohio. Lori Weber and Kyle Weber are co-owners of Lori’s H2O Skills and founded the swimming curriculum they use, which came from Lori’s time spent with the YMCA, American Red Cross and Aquatic Achievers in Australia.
“I brought back knowledge from all of those programs and turned it into Lori’s H2O Skills,” Lori shared. “We started in Milford, Ohio. It was always a dream of mine to have a swim school to save children in and around the water.”
Lori fell in love with swimming as a little girl in Milford. She swam competitively growing up and went on to swim for the University of Kentucky. She continued to swim as an adult and in 2015, she started Lori’s H2O Skills to spread her love for safe swimming.
Swim lessons range as young as 3 months and as old as senior adults. They also teach individuals with special abilities and ensure everyone is comfortable in the water.
“We only teach one-on-one swim lessons so our students can learn how to swim in the most efficient and effective way,” Lori said. “Our program is based on children learning to flip and float and get themselves to safety and learning proper swimming skills.”
Classes are set up once per week for 15 minutes.
“I did a study for children and researched the best way for them to listen and learn with their short attention span,” Lori said.
The conclusion was that children stay engaged for about five to seven minutes. Based on these findings, lessons are capped at 15 minutes to optimize efficiency and retention.
Lori has always been passionate about swimming.
“I just love it,” she said. “I think about swimming and the water all the time.”
The slogan of Lori’s H2O Skills is “Saving Lives One Child at a Time.”
“My passion is teaching people how to swim so it can save their lives,” Lori said. “We want a child to flip and float and stay above water and have enough seconds for a person or friend to help save them. Just seconds can save lives.”
Obviously, swimming in a pool is very different than swimming in the Gulf, but the staff understands the different techniques needed in saltwater and around the ocean to combat big waves and rip tides.
The indoor 40-foot by 12-foot heated pool takes weather out of the equation and allows Lori’s H2O Skills to offer swim lessons year-round. The pool is no deeper than 4 feet.
For more information about one-on-one lessons and pricing, check out their website: www.h2oskillsflorida. com.
“We just want to keep people safe around pools and the water,” Lori said. “We are the place to come for anything water related – that is our love and passion. Safety, safety, safety – that is what we care about.”
Lori’s H2O Skills
850-333-7014
Main location: 577 Brookmeade Drive, Crestview, FL 32539
Second location: 200 Hickory Lane, Valparaiso, FL 32580 (opening in March)