Meet Brad Hurvitz | Aquatics Behavioral Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brad Hurvitz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brad, what is the most important factor behind your success?
We are focused on our student’s success at every moment. We work on a target behavior every lesson which is one piece of the behavioral chain that we are building. When our student accomplishes the challenge we celebrate that victory. Not only do our kids learn how to swim but they learn that they can do hard things and become good at them. That internal message resonates with our student in many of their activities outside of the pool too. We often hear from our clients that swim lessons have elevated their child’s confidence outside of the water in a variety of ways. We are focused on the success of our students and that is how My Baby Swims stands out as the best swim school in San Diego.

What should our readers know about your business?
Drowning is the leading cause of death in kids between 1-5 years old. In 2023, San Diego had more than 60 non-fatal drownings and 1 fatal drowning. This painful reality must change, and I’m doing what I can to reduce those nightmares.

I run My Baby Swims. We teach water survival skills to babies 6 months old to kiddos 6 years old in San Diego. Our students learn to save themselves in the water, respect the water and build a real love for swimming and the water. These are priorities to the business and this is what makes My Baby Swims the best swim school in San Diego. Our very long waitlist would confirm this point. Our young students learn to swim, survive and thrive.

In 2024, My Baby Swims will teach more than 300 children to swim and float. We see children from Coronado, to La Jolla, all the way through Poway. Parents see the value that we bring to their families and make the daily drive so their children can learn these self-rescue skills. I am often amazed and flattered at the dedication that parents have for the lessons. As we continue to expand over the next few years, I aim to make sure that every San Diego parent of young kids know about My Baby Swims and see the difference in our lessons compared to a traditional swim school, which primarily focuses on water acquaintance in young children. We focus on the child, their families, and the skills the child needs to survive and thrive.

Day in and day out, I get in the water, give my students my absolute all while sacrificing my body and energy at the end of the day. Doing what I do is far from easy but seeing the daily benefit of my work is the most gratifying professional feeling I can imagine. Over the years, I’ve struggled with burning out, working too hard, physically and emotionally, but then a baby smiles at me while independently floating. These daily moments of buoyancy keep me going.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Half Mile buoy at the La Jolla Cove. No question about it.

We would start the morning swimming from the Cove to the half mile buoy. Once there, we could enjoy the quiet moments of solace while floating and looking at the sky. Pelicans flying overhead. Listening to the waves crash against the cliffs of La Jolla, sometimes seeing a dolphin or turtle on the way. Nothing is better in San Diego than those moments. Add in good visibility and warm water, it’s heaven.

After the swim, we’d grab a beer and taco at Jose’s, with family and friends. After that it really doesn’t matter, the day is made.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I got into this profession by watching my mentor, Bill Barham. I watched him at work in the pool in La Jolla, laughing with kids and their parents, as he taught one of life’s most precious skills. To me it clicked, I wanted to learn this guy’s magic.

I got coffee with him and talked about the wonderful pros and very real cons of the profession. His honesty and passion were inspiring. I got certified in ISR and began teaching next to Bill. The first couple years presented challenge after challenge and Bill was there to guide me through them. He would remind me to see what the child was doing in the water, try to consider their experience and find a solution to guide them to success. His dedication to perfection continued to challenge my perspective on my craft. He talked to me about how children interact with and utilize the buoyancy of the water and my job in giving them the opportunity to learn this in a safe and fun environment.

It took a couple of years for me to get in a flow with having consistent success in the water. Even for me to define success, which slowly evolved from satisfying my student’s parents to being personally satisfied by how my student’s looked at the end of the session. I quickly wanted to grow the business to teach more kids and considered hiring instructors to work under me. Bill stepped in and would tell me that I wasn’t ready yet. I swallowed my pride and trusted his perspective. 7 years into teaching 1,000+ young kids to swim, I have hired my first instructor and I’m appreciative that he told me to wait. Every step of the way, Bill has guided in the right direction and I am grateful to have had a mentor like him.

Now that he has mostly retired, it’s my responsibility to continue teaching the highest quality swim lessons in San Diego.

Website: https://www.mybabyswims.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybabyswims

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/my-baby-swims-san-diego?osq=my+baby+swims

Image Credits
Image credit goes to My Baby Swims parents/clients