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| Rob and Kathy
McKay have
dedicated the majority of their adult lives to creating the most natural, child friendly,
educationally sound aquatic teaching curriculum for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and
school age children. By adapting innovative child-centered teaching techniques to the
unique abilities and comfort levels of their young students, they have created optimal
learning environments dedicated to the growth and development of the whole child. |

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The very tangible result of their mission is the nationally acclaimed Lifestyle Swim
School, in Boca Raton, Florida and the couple's award winning video series, Diaper
Dolphins.
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Rob is the 1999 recipient of the Paragon Award for Aquatic Safety, which he was
presented on May 7th at the International Swimming Hall of Fame annual
Inductee/Honoree ceremonies, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This honor is presented annually
to an individual who has excelled in their field and made outstanding contributions to
aquatic safety.
Previous recipients include John M. Malatak of The United States Coast
Guard (1998), Thomas C. Werts formally of The American Red Cross and Disney (1997) and
Christine Branche-Dorsey, PH.D.of the Centers for Disease Control (1996). |
Rob recently made
a TV appearance
on the Leon Charney Report news hour, in New York City. He was honored to have
his segment taped the same evening as Yehuda Lanery, the Israeli Ambassador to the United
Nations and Raghida Dergham, a leading Arabic columnist for Al Hayat, in
London. See following link.
Leon Charney Report
New York City
Check out Rob on the CBS Health Watch Web site. See following
link. CBS
Health Watch Baby Swimming
Dr. Daniel Zylberburg of the University of Paris invited Rob to submit an abstract for the International Infant Aquatic
Conference in Toulouse, France. In 1995, Rob addressed this
world wide conference in Melbourne, Australia. His presentation was entitled
"Teaching from the Heart, Using Your Head: An Interactive Curriculum for the Whole
Child." The following year he was the guest lecturer for the New Zealand Swimming
Association's national conference, in Rotorua.
Along with baby swimming pioneer, Virginia Hunt Newman, president of the World
Aquatic Baby Congress, Rob and Kathy were featured on The Discovery Channel. Michael Dorn,
also known as Lt. Worf on Star Trek, narrated the segment for the "World of
Wonder" series, entitled Water Babies. The story featured swimmers from the
Lifestyle Swim School, interviewed Rob and commissioned him to film the underwater footage
for the piece. Increased intelligence and innate swimming abilities were the focus of the
story, which is being aired annually in over 50 countries.

Once again teaming with Virginia Hunt Newman; Rob, Kathy and the Lifestyle Swim School
were selected by the Kimberly Clark Corporation to kick off their nationwide
T.V.
press release on their new "Huggies Little Swimmers" pool pant. The entire
school donned these well fitting disposable swim diapers. The McKays shared five key
points on selecting a "gentle whole child" swim program for babies to over
3,000,000 viewers from New York to California.
| Locally, Kelly Dunn, channel 5 anchor woman and camera man,
Jim Sinton received an Emmy award nomination for their 1998 story on water safety
and the Lifestyle Swim School. Also, Rob and Kathy were honored to have their
Lifestyle Video Productions commissioned to produce three Public Service T.V. commercials
for Palm Beach County, on drowning prevention. Their "Supervision " PSA was the
recipient of a Communicator Award winning the "Award of Distinction". |

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Rob, listed in "Whos Who in Aquatics", has been featured in
"Family Life" magazine, "The New York Post" and on CBS "This
Morning". He has authored articles for "Fitness Swimmer" magazine,
"Aquatics" magazine, "Florida Parent" , "Australian Swim Coaches
Journal", and "Swim Teachers of America". Rob was selected by the Perrier
Water Company to be a spokesperson on water safety for their Ozarka subsidiary and twice
served as a delegate at the National Aquatic Summit in Washington D.C.
He and Kathy were selected as the teacher trainers on infant swimming for the
International Aquatica Symposium sponsored by the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Kathy is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, with a strong emphasis in
education and educational philosophy and methods. Her thematic approach to lesson planning is always
apparent in games, songs, creative play, toys and theme days at the swim school.
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As a girl
scout leader, Kathy was honored as "Outstanding Leader" for her city. She
recently received the "Outstanding Teacher Award" from the National Swim School
Association. Valedictorian of her high school class, Kathy's brilliant writing
and organizational abilities have helped to create many peripherals such
as P.S.A. scripts, teacher training manuals and parent guides. She is the
calming voice behind Diaper Dolphins Volume II (amazingly all accomplished in
nearly one take) and the Palm Beach County drowning prevention P.S.A.'s. |
Rob has spent his life in and around the water. He was most fortunate to be swimming by
the age of 3 (back in the 1950's) thanks to conscientious parents. By the age of 16, Rob was honored as an
All American swimmer for Washington High School, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His relay team set a national
YMCA record
in the 800 yard freestyle relay at the 1969 YMCA national
championships, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a member of the 1970 YMCA
national championship team.
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Active in student government, as a junior, Rob was elected to the
cabinet of the Iowa State student council. A special faculty
committee presented Rob with an award as the male who
contributed the most to his high school class of 1971. A previous recipient
was TV actor Doug Barr of "Fall Guy" and "Designing
Woman". As nephew of the founder of
the Cedar Rapids Symphony Joseph Kitchen, Rob was also an accomplished violinist
and later added Celtic fiddle and guitar to his repertoire. |
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A varsity swimmer at Florida State University he was honored as
a scholar athlete. As head coach of the Cedar Rapids YMCA, his swimmers set three
national YMCA records. While attending graduate school in education at F.S.U., Rob served as
assistant men's swim coach for the university, where he was a dean's list student.
Both a Red Cross WSI and a level 4 swim coach through the American Swim Coaches
Association, he is a charter member of the National Swim School Association and serves on
the Board of Directors of the World Aquatic Baby Congress. In
May of 2002, Rob was appointed to the International Swimming Hall of Fame board
of advisors, called the International Congress, along with other aquatic
contributors including Olympic Gold Medalist Gary Hall Jr. Rob McKay still swims 2
miles, four days per week, for health, fun and fitness.
He enjoys the
refreshing and invigorating benefits of swimming. Rob
recently participated in the Galt Ocean Swim and is in training for the Publix
Classic Triathlon Series.
Rob and Kathy McKay have owned and
operated the Lifestyle Swim School since 1981 and their award winning video production
company, Lifestyle Video Productions since 1990.
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| Kathy with guest baby teacher, Yoko
Yagishita
visiting from Tokyo, Japan. |
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| Rob with Ross Gage, executive director of Swim Australia (left)
and Bert Cotterill, director of New Zealand swimming education on a visit to the Lifestyle
Swim School, in Boca Raton, Florida. |
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| Rob with Steve Graves, executive director of
the World Aquatic Baby Congress and Virginia Hunt Newman, Hall of Fame
infant swimming pioneer, on May 11, 2001. |

All visual and
written material copyright 1999-2008 Lifestyle Productions

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