Piper
Underwood | Rimini
 |
Photos
Lina Waage |



On
a beautiful May Day, my
sister and I sit
poolside timing my
7-year-old to see
if he can tread water
for the two minutes
required to pass the
Little Turtle swim
test. With two weeks
until the test, my
son can tread water
for 15 seconds. My
sister casually asks
if I can get my deposit
back. All I can think
is we should’ve
started this process
sooner.
The
Little Turtle program
is a pre-Jr. Lifeguard
Program for 7 and
8 year olds introducing
the kids to beach
awareness, safety,
and respect for
the ocean and its
inhabitants. The
requirements for
passing the Little
Turtle swim test
are
thus: Child must
swim
50 yards freestyle
under 3 minutes.
Child must retrieve
object from shallow
water. Child must
tread water for
two minutes.
Fast
forward two weeks
to
the sparkling new
Pardee
Aquatic Center
at the
Solana Beach Boys & Girls
Club. My son’s
name is called and just
as he’s
about to enter the
pool, I remind him to
remove his blue crocs
from his feet.
He
completes the shallow
water object retrieval
with ease. Now
for
the swim test.
Did I
mention he’s
afraid of the deep end
of the pool? I guess
it’s
some sort of aquatic
vertigo. I would have
attempted hypnotherapy
on him, but we ran
out of time.
Now
it’s
sink or swim. He swims.
It’s
August now, and yesterday
was the last day of
the last session for
Little Turtles. It culminates
in Little Turtle Parent
Day where parents meet
the Little Turtle instructors,
including the eminent “Turtle” herself,
and participate in
some of the activities
their children have
been doing for the last
few weeks.
Even
though it appears
our
children are just
having
fun and playing
games
at the beach, it
becomes
evident through
the
day, they are absorbing
more than just
sunshine.
They demonstrate
a
proper ocean rescue
on us parents.
We all
survive. They have
learned to identify
rip currents and
brittle
stars, and they’ve
learned the stingray
shuffle, a Tim Conway-like
shuffle used to keep
the stingrays at bay.
But
most of all they have
made new friends.
I
meet Jack, who
I am
told by my son
is from
the “mountains” here
in San Diego. I assume
he’s
from Pine Valley or
perhaps out near one
of the observatories
and wonder if he’s
vacationing in town
or drives out each morning.
I later find that he’s
from Rancho Santa Fe.
Perhaps he lives on
a hill.
As
another season
of Little
Turtles comes to
a
close, we can rest
assured
that our beaches
will
be that much safer
for our children,
and
those visiting
the
Del Mar beaches,
including
Jack, who’s
from the mountains
of Rancho Santa Fe.
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