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Meet the Team
Melissa and Chris are a husband-and-wife team both in and out of the pool, blessed with three children and proud Air Force veterans. They share a deep commitment to water safety and drowning prevention, inspired by watching their younger children complete four years of survival swim lessons and by hosting and supporting other families during those years. They bring extensive experience teaching survival swim lessons to families throughout the Emerald Coast. Their shared goal is to help children gain life-saving skills while building confidence and independence in the water.
They teach year-round in a heated, covered pool, offering private lessons with options after private lessons from aquababies (classes for infants and caregivers after the floater program), group classes (after the swim float swim program), maintenance lessons, and basic stroke development. As in any sport, regular practice builds confidence and ability. By providing continued instruction beyond initial survival training, children can continue to strengthen their skills as they grow because water safety isn’t seasonal.
Melissa is a Certified Infant Aquatics Instructor and Air Force veteran who specializes in self-rescue swim lessons for infants, toddlers, and children through teens using the Swim Float Swim method. She is also First Aid/CPR/AED certified. Melissa initially trained extensively in Colorado with Judy Heumann, the founder of Infant Aquatics, an experience that shaped her commitment to teaching survival swim lessons. Dedicated to continual professional growth, she values collaboration with other Infant Aquatics instructors. She enjoys both hosting other Infant Aquatics instructors and traveling to other Infant Aquatics locations, bringing back new techniques to strengthen all the Baby Sharks Infant Aquatics programs.
Chris is also a Certified Infant Aquatics Instructor and Air Force veteran, with a background as an Intelligence Analyst and multiple overseas deployments. He completed an intensive, hands-on training program with Judy Heumann, focusing on child development, behavior, anatomy, physiology, and sensory integration. He is also First Aid/CPR/AED certified. Chris brings over two decades of experience in triathlon training and competition to his instruction and is an active member of the Joe Zarzaur Tri Team. Combined with four years of involvement in his own children's progress through survival swim lessons, these experiences have shaped his strong dedication to teaching water safety and life-saving skills.
Together, Melissa and Chris work to empower children ages 6 months through their teen years with the critical life-saving skill of self-rescue floating using the proven foundational swim float swim method, while also working toward the ability to develop stronger swim skills through basic strokes that prepare children for a lifetime of confidence, safety, and success in the water. Both instructors attend bi-yearly training retreats to continually expand their knowledge and refine techniques, ensuring every child receives the safest and most effective instruction possible.
Based in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Baby Sharks Infant Aquatics proudly serves Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Pensacola, Milton, Pace, Cantonment, Perdido Beach, Mary Ester, Fort Walton Beach, and all surrounding communities.
Guided by faith, Melissa and Chris are dedicated to preventing drowning and to equipping children with confidence and a lifelong love of water safety skills. Follow their journey and see updates, encouragement, and program highlights on their Facebook page here and their Instagram page here.
Join thousands of Florida families who've chosen Infant Aquatics for their children's water safety.