Valley swim instructor aims to prevent drowning tragedies

“It is swim season. Make the best of it, but don’t turn it into a tragedy,” said Rene Hickey, a valley swim instructor.

Just last week, a 56-year-old man tragically drowned in Palm Springs and another Palm Desert man was rushed to the hospital after a near-drowning incident.

With the hottest months of summer approaching, Rene Hickey says you can never be too careful in the water, and you’re never too old to take a swim lesson. “Here we go it’s summer everyone’s hitting water, the pool’s great the weather is going to warm up again. The sad part is that there are some things we forget,” said Hickey.

She’s been offering swim lessons as a red cross certified instructor for 46 years. She has many clients who never learned to swim when they were younger.

“I’m actually at 65 taking swim lessons too…and it’s fun. We’re out here early in the morning and it’s just a great way to start the day,” said Lori Levy, a client of Hickey’s.

Swim lessons are a fun, family event for Levy and her grandkids. “We have been learning how to do back strokes and freestyle,” said Maleika & Joshua Qureshi.

“Because we have the pool it’s imperative to me that they be safe in the water,” said Levy.

Hickey says you should never leave kids unattended by any body of water and don’t rely on a lifeguard. She says she’s heard of cases where kids have drowned even with a lifeguard on duty. She also says people can drown in any depth of water: “We’re all talking about pools and jacuzzis this time because they’re comfortable to get in to. We forget about bathtubs, we forget about buckets, we forget about ponds.”

She teaches all of her clients the importance of knowing how to float on your back if you find yourself overexerted or stranded in water — remaining calm, tilting your head back and slightly bending your knees, your body will float.

Most importantly, Hickey says no one regardless of age should ever swim alone. You never know when a medical emergency might occur: “Having a spotter — we call it the buddy system which a lot of us grew up with…where we always had someone with our eyes on to watch them and them to watch us.”