Instructor FAQs

The Full Training Course
Instructors' Frequently Asked Questions

Question: "What is the goal of the MSI's Conquer Fear Training Program?"
Answer:

• To make good lessons available for true beginning swimming students—those who are afraid—so that every person can be safe in water. (Every time we say "safe," we mean as safe as humanly possible in the moment.)
• To train and empower swim instructors to be successful with every single student and guide each student to lifelong reliability in water.
• To teach instructors how to be at ease and comfortable with afraid students.
• To make instructors confident with any student.

What will I learn in the Conquer Fear Training Program?

In the online training, you'll learn what afraid students must learn which is different from what non-afraid students need to learn and you'll learn how to teach it (as much as you can learn online). There's a lot of video. As a retiring P.E. teacher who's taught swimming for 30 years remarked, "There are many new ideas." There are also many reminders of things you already know which teachers say they long ago forgot due to pressure from students and from parents, etc.

You'll come to understand why traditional lessons can't possibly take afraid students to safety and true swimming reliability in deep water (except for the onesies and twosies who succeed, which won't end drowning globally).

You'll learn the mechanism of "being in control" (from "being in control to losing it,") how it works, and how to teach control. You'll be presented with basic common-sense notions, like, "A person can't learn to swim if he's not in control," and, "afraid students need to learn something that non-afraid students already know," notions that are obvious, but are not accommodated in current traditional lessons. A current online trainee said, "There's so much new material!"

You'll learn the messages and the progressions to be conveyed in the eight 3-hour sessions of the Miracle Swimming Beginning Class.

You'll learn to see with new eyes.

There are powerful diagrams describing learning—all learning—which when used and applied, make learning inevitable and guaranteed. They were developed by Miracle Swimming.

In the hands-on portion of the training, you'll see the Beginning class in action from A to Z. Trainees say 50% to 70% of their learning comes from this part of the training. You'll meet 5 to 8 afraid adult students who will teach you what traditional lessons have felt like to them. You'll see Miracle Swimming's remedies as students are guided from terror to new understanding and new confidence and competency in water, shallow and deep in the 6-day training; and to freedom in deep water if you take the 11-day training (which includes the sequel class to the Beginning class). Afraid beginners learn how to remain in control and be in the water the way they've always dreamt they could. You'll watch this remarkable process (which students call miraculous), digest it, synthesize new thoughts and find your own words for how you will present the steps to your own students. You wlll go home a changed person. It is not difficult.

"Can you give the training program in less time?"

Just as you can't fly from London to New York in twenty minutes, we can't give the training in less time. The scope and depth of the training is similar to a college graduate course. Not that it's difficult! It's simply that it's so different, it requires questions, time and practice. The online training greatly shortens your travel time. We've endeavored to keep the arrangements and schedule simple and do-able. We want you to feel completely prepared to succeed with afraid students and to teach Miracle Swimming. Students cannot find this level of progress anywhere else in the world.

"I currently teach out of my home pool but would look at teaching Miracle Swimming at a local club. Would you recommend that I approach them about this prior to my training to ensure I'll have a pool?"

You may teach Miracle Swimming in your home pool. You'll satisfy students most if your pool has both shallow and deep water. Naturally you'd want enough space to teach enough students to make it worth your while. A minimum pool size is 20' by 15' of shallow water for 6 students and the same amount of space in the deep end for 6 students, ideally 7-9 feet deep. Ideally, the water will be 92 degrees. We've taught in 88 degrees with 1.5 mm wetsuit tops, which works.

If you're interested in teaching at a local club, we recommend that you check with them first. Many clubs believe they already do what MSI does, though they do not do anything close. You'll need to show them that your new skills and what they teach are completely different. We've had luck using the term, "Pre-beginning Swimming." We clearly teach the material that comes before "Beginning Swimming."

How much pool space is needed?
Minimum: 60 square feet per person in the shallow end and another 50 square feet per person in the deep end. Ideally: at least 100 square feet per person in both shallow and deep. There should be a rope separating shallow from deep.

A 20x40 pool that becomes deep at the halfway point is a minimum size for 6 adult students.

How long is the course for afraid students?
24 hours: Eight 3-hour classes of one hour on land followed by 2 hours in a warm pool. If necessary you may teach twelve 2-hour classes (.75 hour on land, 1.25 hours in the pool) or sixteen 1.5-hour classes (half hour on land, one hour in the pool). Every format works. There must be a dry-land portion.

MSI teaches 3 formats: 4 weekends of 3:30-6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 4:45-7:45 p.m. on Sundays;
5 days in a row in our vacation classes; and
2 four-day weekends of class after hours: 6-9 p.m. Thursday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, 3:30-6:30 on Saturdays and 4:45-7:45 p.m. on Sundays. We usually do this with a weekend off between the two 4-day weekends.

How many students per class are recommended?
Teaching by yourself, 3-4. Once you have a spotter, someone who has done the MSI training or who is an MSI graduate of your classes who wants to return as a volunteer to give back, you can reach 6-7 people in one class. Once you master the system which takes teaching it about 25 times, you can take 8 in a class with a spotter or two. We consider a class full at 8 at MSI. Naturally this presumes plenty of pool space. We do NOT crowd the water. We do NOT teach intensives. Rest time is imperative: both the instructor training and the Beginning class for adults virtually turn people's minds inside out.

How much pool rent should I expect to pay if I rent a larger pool for Miracle Swimming classes?
This depends on your location. The range we've found is $25-$75/hour for pool time. We try to arrange free classroom time since we're renting the pool.

How do you handle insurance?
MSI has joined US Masters Swimming as a masters team ($60-$70/year). This does not require competition, workouts, etc. but simply membership. Each of our students then joins USMS at $37-45/year (depending on the part of the U.S.) as part of their course fee each year. As long as the students are members and you and the lifeguard on deck are both USMS members, your liability is covered.

What is the demand for classes for adults who are afraid in water?
Half of the adults in the U.S. are afraid in deep water in pools. Two thirds are afraid in deep, open water. Many know they're afraid and want to overcome it and swim. This is your "conscious" market. The need is big enough to keep your classes full for the next couple of centuries unless you're in a tiny town. You create the demand by letting people know what you do, that it works and that it's fun. You can ride on our reputation, since you'll be doing what we do. You'll be listed on our website so people can find you as long as you remain active and in good standing.

Many adults who are afraid in water don't know they're afraid: they think they just haven't practiced mechanics enough. This is your "unconscious" market. They have no idea fear is the problem. They believe swimming mechanics are the answer. This market needs to be educated in the way learning-to-swim actually works: that the reason they're stuck is fear, and that first they have to overcome fear, THEN they can learn mechanics.

Many adults who are afraid in water and who could save their lives if they learned to overcome their fear and swim gave up trying long ago. They had so many negative, discouraging experiences in swimming lessons which taught mechanics that they've resigned themselves to staying out of the water in this lifetime. Most of these people have NO IDEA there's a fun, easy, gentle, foolproof way to learn to swim that's completely different from what they've tried before and which works the first time. The American Red Cross and the YMCA are unaware of the advantages of Miracle Swimming.

All this is to say that you create the demand by letting people know there is such a class as this in your community and by showing people. You show them with Introductory half-day classes that you know something no one else in your community knows and that it works reliably and predictably, as guaranteed.

How soon after the MSI training is completed can a trainee begin to teach Miracle Swimming as an independent business?
You may begin teaching Miracle Swimming as soon as you return from the hands-on training. However, you must pass the hands-on training first. Most people do pass, but you wouldn't want to be in a position of having to cancel classes. We recommend that you schedule and announce your first class two weeks to a month or after you return home and label them tentative, to be confirmed on such and such a date.

If an afraid adult “graduates” into other swim programs offered by our business (i.e., advanced lessons, aquatic fitness, etc.), must MSI royalties be paid on the fees for those programs?
No. You pay royalties on the Beginning and Next Step classes and any others you train with us to teach (Freestyle, Snorkeling, SCUBA). Until a student is completely free in water, you pay royalties on their classes (Beginning and NS and derivatives you create: overcoming fear implies use of the 5 Circles technology).

Are there model programs/businesses you can recommend who make their living teaching MSI/afraid adults?
Currently, two schools make their living teaching Miracle Swimming: Sarasota and Seattle's Miracle Swimming instructors.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of being a trained but not licensed instructor?
A licensed instructor commands more credibility and respect (presumably) because he/she has taught enough to start to get the idea of what teaching Miracle Swimming is about. "Licensed" means you've taught 3 classes from A-Z within 12 months of your training. A lot of learning comes from teaching it.

Can you estimate the number of post-training opportunities we’ll have to be spotters or instructors for MSI licensees? Would travel costs for those opportunities covered?
If you volunteer to spot a class and pay your way, chances are good that you'll have post-training opportunities to spot. Otherwise, we select spotters or instructors who are more experienced. After you've taught 5-6 Beginning classes on your own and received great feedback, you may be offered an opportunity to travel to teach Miracle Swimming classes. If we ask you to spot or travel to teach a class, your expenses will be covered (air, car, hotel, meals).

Is there a risk that the relationship between MSI and its licensees will become competitive rather than collaborative? Can Columbus compete with Florida, California, and Hawaii as a destination city for this type of training?
The understanding is that we collaborate in order to serve the students: that's our raison d'etre (reason for being). We're in business to teach people to swim and to make money doing it so we can sustain our livelihoods and hopefully a comfortable lifestyle. People will go to you because you're closest to them. Some people will go to you because they have friends, family, or business obligations in your town and they can combine trips.

If you knew then what you know now, how would you have approached the start and/or growth of your swim school?
I would have put more money into marketing. I would have hired someone to do officework and books.

What are the business success rates of your MSI trained and licensed instructors?
So far, not many instructors have gone into teaching adults exclusively. Most of them teach kids;, one coaches masters as his main revenue;, some have "day jobs."
But every single instructor is successful with his/her classes and teaching. The system takes care of satisfying clients. It never fails. All you have to do is care, learn it, and be an honest business person and you'll grow.

"You make a lot of claims. Is this for real?"
There is zero exaggeration or overstatement in any of our descriptions or materials. The press has never "gotten it" about our work. Therefore, we must put our work into accurate terms and be very specific about our results so people can decide for themselves. Our book and DVD, the downloads of The Learn To Swim Show and the free video on this website present our teaching. Still, many people don't believe it until they see it. The quotes of formerly afraid students and of our MSI licensed instructors and trainees speak for themselves. The work is extremely powerful and has vast implications for all of learning and teaching. It's still new after 28 years, and we're still finding the words to convey it.

The overcoming of fear is based on students' learning to trust themselves in water. We MSI instructors must be trustworthy in order for them to trust us and in order for them to learn to trust themselves. We believe being trustworthy is the only way to guarantee that all clients—students and instructors—will be more than happy they came to us.

"What am I agreeing to in the Licensing Agreement?"
The licensing agreement says that:

• ten percent of your gross revenues from giving Miracle Swimming private lessons and classes (and whenever you use the MSI technology) is paid to MSI as royalties after each class.

• when you complete the 6-day training in good standing, you will be a MSI-Trained instructor, empowered to deliver our first 3 courses: our Introductory half-day class which is a feeder to the Beginning class, our Beginning class, and our Next Step class which bring a person to freedom in deep water.

• you'll become a Licensed MSI Instructor once you've delivered 3 full Miracle Swimming courses to at least 1 person each in the 12 months following your training. This keeps your familiarity with the information fresh and requires that you practice it and learn it. Until that time, you will be a Trainee. It takes several years to learn the material fully. The term, "afraid" applies to any true beginner: those who are fearful in deep water and those who are only mildly concerned due to their unfamiliarity with the water.

• you'll pay a licensing fee of $100 each year, billed in June. This fee is included in your training fee for the first year or partial year. This fee will increase if royalties are ever eliminated.

• you may pass along what you learn to your staff, but you may not certify another instructor as a Miracle Swimming Instructor and they will not be recognized as trained or licensed Miracle Swimming instructors; they may not teach Miracle Swimming.

• The more people in your community who read our book, Conquer Your Fear of Water, the more people will sign up for the Beginning class. You may purchase these items at wholesale and sell the book and dvd at your location.
  
  
• you'll provide the contact information of each of your Miracle Swimming students and the feedback forms of your classes so feedback can be discussed and your progress as a Miracle Swimming instructor can be followed and enhanced. MSI may be in touch with these students about our vacation classes. This makes more products available to your market, but is never intended to take students away from your market.

• in exchange for the Licensing fee, you'll receive marketing assistance during and after the training to help you get your classes up and running; you will be listed on our web site as a location where people can take Miracle Swimming, ranked by experience in teaching Miracle Swimming. In exchange for royalties, you receive updates in training materials; access to course materials for students; you'll be referred when we receive calls asking, "Do you teach Miracle Swimming in my town?" You'll be able to capitalize on the brand recognition of MSI's Miracle Swimming classes, book, and video. You'll become part of the body of Miracle Swimming Instructors (BOI) connected by email and phone to dialog with other instructors who are mastering or who have mastered the material. You'll have the opportunity to travel to be a spotter at a MSI Vacation class for your added training and practice, and to be asked to teach and be paid for a MSI Miracle Swimming class that we need to staff in the U.S. and abroad.

The Training teaches instructors to teach afraid students to trust themselves and the water. It's based on the trustworthiness of our system and the instructors. Instructors and Licensees must continue to earn this trust from students and MSI to be successful. This refers particularly to use of the training, proprietary training materials, student course materials, and the identification of the Miracle Swimming system as such. In other words, if you're using Miracle Swimming technology, it's a Miracle Swimming class.

"When will I see the Licensing Agreement?"
The Licensing Agreement will be sent to you at least one month before your hands-on training. It's 30 pages of sensible definitions of the relationship between licensees/trainees and MSI. Please read it and bring any questions with you to the training. It will be signed and turned in there.

"What shall I charge for Miracle Swimming Classes?"
You may charge what the market will bear in your community. We suggest that you use your normal pricing formula applied to a 24 hour course which spends 8 hours on land. We suggest that in the beginning, you not charge the price MSI charges, but a price your clientele trusts and will pay.

A successful model has been Jim Montgomery's Miracle Swimming program in Dallas. He charges $289 for the first half of the Beginning class which he teaches as a unit. He charges another $289 for Part 2 of the Beginning class. We sell him the Student Handbook in 2 parts ($11 each part).

"What if I can't teach Miracle Swimming as well as MSI at first?"
Every instructor has his/her own style and there will always be differences in the delivery. As long as the system is followed and the message is delivered and students understand, the job will get done and students will be ecstatic. Your job is simply to make students happy they took your class by following the system. If you follow the system, they will be very happy.

"Why do you ask the True/False question on the application?"
The ability to teach the MSI material is not in everyone. The True/False statement is an item we've come up with that helps us get to know you in more depth than the application provides.

What is the relationship between Miracle Swimming Institute and 21st Century Swimming Lessons, Inc?

MSI is our parent company, the one founded in 1983. "21st" is our new non-profit which is actually the body that teaches all classes and trainings. The Miracle Swimming teaching technology was gifted to "21st" in order to spread the end of drowning worldwide by being able to receive grants and donations for research to prove the advantages of our method, and staffing to cover the jobs required to end drowning.

 

Can I Trust Miracle Swimming Institute and "21st?"
Like most companies, our desire is to provide good service. Unlike many companies, we bend over backward to
be trustworthy 100% of the time, keep our word, and make only the claims we can make good. There is no exaggeration or overstatement in any of our marketing or advertising materials. As people often tell us, "It's exactly as described."

 

 

 

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