Amsterdam

Kara

Kara is Co founder and fellow owner of Children of the Water Amsterdam. For more than 8 years Kara has been teaching Self Rescue in Amsterdam, a true expert. She trained our very own Zoë van Straalen as an instructor. As an American she was very familiair with the Self Rescue Technique and found out that in Holland and even Europe these life-saving swimming programs for children were obsolete, so she decided to develop it herself. As Kara shares:  “There were a lot of questions and desires to take a course here in Amsterdam, without any possibility. In America these classes have been offered for over 40 years and with this country being surrounded by water, it surprised me that there wasn't any such course available here. After doing some research I decided to train to be an instructor and start giving lessons. I have a passion for water, I was/am an avid surfer when I lived in Virginia Beach, America and whenever we travel and there is a possibility to be in the ocean I'm in it! Given this passion for water and being able to share and teach babies how to safely enjoy being in the water made it the perfect mix! I trained/studied and received my certificate from Joy McGinty of SouthWest Aquatics/PediaSwim Academy. My training included over 100 hours of pool instruction including child psychology and physiology. I was also licensed in CPR and First Aid during my training. I've entrusted my own children (son 11 months old and my daughter 14 months) with these lessons as you can see in the videos, that's how much I believe in this program! I look forward to meeting you in the water!! I speak Dutch fluently, and English is of course my native language.​