For nearly 20 years now—since 1998—thousands of babies, toddlers, and children from all over the Valley have learned how to swim and developed a love for the water as a result of taking lessons at the Hubbard Family Swim Schools.
A member of a Chinese documentary film crew gets in the pool with young paddlers at the Phoenix location of Hubbard Family Swim Schools (submitted photo).
Under the direction of co-owners Bob and Kathy Hubbard, their three Arizona swim schools have developed a world-class reputation and the couple has become leaders and expert speakers in the field of infant and children’s swim lessons.
A TV crew from China visited the Phoenix location in February to do some filming and interviewing for an upcoming documentary that will air this year on China Central Television (CCTV). The working title right now for the documentary is, “Babies in Waterland.”
“We were honored that the documentary team from CCTV chose to visit our swim school,” said Bob Hubbard. “We originally met the film crew in Cambridge, England back in September 2016, when Kathy and I were there to present a talk on the importance of introducing children to the water at a young age. They told us they had a great interest in the role water plays in the emotional, cognitive, and physical development of children and they wanted to come to Phoenix and see what our teaching methods were all about.”
The film crew also got terrific footage of Hubbard’s swim instructors teaching children with special needs. “We have several children enrolled in our schools who are dealing with special challenges ranging from blindness to spina bifida to Down syndrome,” explains Bob. “The film crew told us that they had a particular interest in seeing how these children excelled in an aquatic environment and the role the water plays in increasing their physical strength and flexibility.”
According to Yiping Sun, the official translator for the group, “In the film we want to show people some inspiring stories about swimming, about water. And in Hubbard Family Swim School there are miracles—children who couldn’t walk start to walk, children who may be anxious and uneasy find their comfort and trust here. We can see that the Hubbard family is not just running a business. They are taking their social responsibilities through their work.”
For more information about Hubbard Family Swim Schools, visit www.hubbardswim.com.
