Joy

Joy has always been passionate about water and children. She is the mom of a beautiful girl and combining both water safety and working with children is a dream job.

Joy worked as a gym teacher, teaching the last 8 years at a primary school. She has worked with all ages and therefore she developed a large set of didactic skills.

Kara

Kara is Co founder and Co owner of Children of the Water Amsterdam. Kara has been teaching Self Rescue in Amsterdam for more than 8 years. She trained our very own Zoë van Straalen as an instructor. As an American she was very familiar 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. She has a passion for water, being an avid surfer when she lived in Virginia Beach, America and whenever she travels and there is a possibility to be in the ocean she is 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! Kara trained/studied and received her certificate from Joy McGinty of SouthWest Aquatics/PediaSwim Academy.

Mariëlle

Since a young age Marielle has had a love for water, which led her to start teaching ABC swim lessons in 2016. She is a mother of two and a stewardess for more than 20 years; After teaching swimming for 3 years she realised that the dangerous gap currently held from baby to the standard age of swimming ABC could be resolved after following Children of The Water on Instagram.

Michiel

Michiel is a father of twin girls and has been teaching ABC swim lessons in The Netherlands. His desire to enable children to be confident swimmers led him to Children of The Water. And the holistic Self Rescue approach was the perfect solution in achieving his goals. His many life experiences enable him to connect on all levels with children and parents alike, which is so evidently important when embarking on this swim journey together.