A video of a baby falling head first into the water, then appearing to struggle to float, has gone viral. Now, one local swim instructor is defending the coaching technique.
The viral video shows a 6-month-old girl reaching for a shoe, then falling into the pool. Many people are shocked, saying it looks like the baby is close to drowning.
Swimming Kids LV infant swim instructor, Gail Robinson, says the technique is called Infant Swimming Resource's Self Rescue program. She uses the same exact method with her babies in the pool.
"I want to know that they can utilize that float as long as they need to," says Robinson.
The idea is to coach the baby to swim, float, swim. Robinson says it may look scary, but the baby in the viral video was never in danger.
"She came right up, she floated, she was not struggling," says Robinson.
One Henderson mother agrees. Her son isn't even a year old yet, and he has learned to swim using the same technique shown in the controversial viral video.
"It makes me proud to know he's learning these techniques early on," says Danielle Rinaldi.
According to Infant Swimming Resource, there are five other instructors in the Las Vegas area.
