I am Cathy Perez, Infant Aquatics instructor and founder of Wee Kick Aquatics in Orlando, FL.
I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL and spent much of my childhood in and around water. In my teenage years I spent summers working with children as a Camp Director. I moved to Orlando in 1998 to attend the University of Central Florida where I met my husband, Hector. I graduated with a BS in Radiological Sciences and started my career working at the local trauma hospital. After several years working as a Radiologic Technologist I transitioned into a training role traveling throughout the country. While traveling was exciting and allowed me to see much of our beautiful country, I wanted to stay closer to home and start a family. My husband and I are blessed to have two beautiful children, Lyla (5) and Joel (2).
I was initially introduced to survival swimming when I enrolled our daughter at nine months old. She was quite fearless and loved the water very much, almost too much. Water is everywhere in Florida, whether it be the beach, backyard pool or pond I wanted to make sure my children would be safe. I realized the benefits and importance of enrolling my children into swim lessons. With my love of children, love of water and training experience I decided to pursue the training needed to become a certified survival swim instructor myself. This was a decision my family and I pondered for several years and was excited to take the plunge.
I am very excited to bring the Infant Aquatics program to East Orlando. I look forward to providing children in my community with the skills, knowledge and confidence for them to be safe around water. I can personally attest that the swim lessons my children have participated in have allowed my family to thoroughly enjoy our time around water. I look forward to providing you and your family the same.
Feel free to contact me with any questions and to discover how you can give your child the ability to swim and be safer around the water.
Cathy Perez is certified in child/infant CPR and first aid.