Est. Mesa, Arizona · 1971
How SWIMkids USA Went From a YMCA Baby Class to One of America's Most Recognized Swim Schools
A story that starts with tragedy, a master's thesis, and one mother's vow to spend her life keeping children safe in the water.
1971 — The Beginning
Two Drowning Tragedies. One Vow. A Fifty-Year School.
In 1971, Lana Whitehead watched two of her closest friends lose children to drowning. It was the kind of grief that changes a person's direction permanently. She made a vow: she would dedicate her life to water safety and drowning prevention, and she would start with the youngest children possible.
She began with her own infant son - and what she discovered changed everything about how early swim education was understood.
The YMCA noticed what Lana was building and asked her to develop baby swim classes. Those classes became wildly popular — not just because children learned water safety, but because the parent-child water experience turned out to be a profound bonding opportunity with measurable developmental benefits. At the time, children rarely started swim lessons before age five. Lana was doing it with infants.
SWIMkids USA — Mesa, Arizona's family-owned swim and gymnastics school — grew directly from that original program. It has never been sold, franchised, or handed to an outside management group. Lana still runs it to this day..
The School
What SWIMkids USA Is Today
SWIMkids USA offers swim lessons and gymnastics classes under one roof in Mesa, Arizona. It's a family-owned operation where the staff treats every family like their own.
Every instructor at SWIMkids USA holds certifications most swim schools don't require: the proprietary SWIMkids method, CPR, First Aid, Lifeguarding, and Swim Whisperer techniques — specialized training that equips teachers to work successfully with children who have special needs. SWIMkids USA is the only swim school in Arizona where this full certification combination is required of every teacher.
Author & Educator
5 Books. Hundreds of Instructors Trained. A Global Reach.
Lana Whitehead has authored five books on swim safety and the connection between movement, learning, and brain development — purchased by swim professionals in countries across the globe. Many of those instructors traveled to Mesa to observe her methods firsthand after reading her work.
She has trained hundreds of swim and gymnastics instructors in principles of education, swim skills, safety management, and customer service — many of whom went on to become managers and directors in the aquatics industry.
Lana holds degrees in exercise physiology and special education, and is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.
National Voice
National Media Expert on Infant Drowning Prevention
Lana is the national spokesperson for and co-founder of Water SMART Babies — an innovative drowning prevention program delivered through pediatricians' offices across the United States. When the CBS Early Show and the TODAY Show wanted to cover infant swim safety, they came to Mesa, Arizona to talk to Lana.
She has been interviewed for major national publications including Parents, Parenting, Baby Talk, and Pregnancy and Newborn magazines, and has appeared on Phoenix-area outlets including Good Morning Arizona, the FOX morning show, and The Arizona Republic. She is the primary local media resource in Arizona for topics involving early swim lessons, swimming, and brain development.
Global Impact
Lana Has Taken SWIMkids USA's Methods Around the World
From Olympic training centers to international aquatic congresses, Lana's research and methods have been presented on six continents to some of the most respected bodies in the swimming world.
Community Impact
Blake's Miracle Foundation: Showing Up For Kids Beyond the Pool
After the Whitehead family lost their beloved Blake to leukemia just before his second birthday, Lana founded Blake's Miracle Foundation in his memory. One of Blake's brightest moments in the hospital was music therapy — a service rarely covered by insurance.
Each year, SWIMkids USA hosts the Blake's Miracle Festival — a charity swim-a-thon where the school's young swimmers raise money through pledges. The funds support music therapy programs at Cardon Children's Hospital and Phoenix Children's Hospital, and drowning prevention efforts across the Valley.
Five Decades of Experience. One Free Trial Class.
See what 50+ years of refinement looks like in the water. Start with a free trial class today!