About Natura Splash
I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t around the water. Growing up in Puerto Rico, being in a pool or beach was a daily part of my life. Naturally, my life’s winding paths have always led me back to aquatics. My education path was meant to lead to a career in the medical field, yet what began as a fun college job with a local swim program held my mind completely enthralled.
Being in the field of aquatics, we are often reminded that drowning is consistently one of the leading causes of death in children. I consider learning to swim a life-or-death skill that is essential for every child. Swimming lessons between the ages of 1-4 can help reduce the risk of drowning by 88%. For me, this simply wasn’t enough. Something troubling that we hear less often yet I often ran into in my practice is how 21st century lifestyle has removed the physical stimulus needed to create healthy function, and how much this is affecting optimal development in children. But what if we could help remedy that in the pool?
After becoming a mother myself, Natura Splash was born from the idea of the magic that is possible by providing water safety skills in a way that can not only save a life, but also stimulate optimal physical, cognitive, and social development. Influenced by my mentor, leader in baby aquatics and founder of Waterbabies Vera Garibaldi, in combination with the principles regarding the importance of movement’s central role in brain development presented by Christine Roberts in the renowned Nurturing Pathways® curriculum, Natura Splash provides one of the best whole-child centered approaches to developing a safe relationship with the water.
It is the culmination of the past 18 years of deep study and practice, and I thank all of you for offering me and the staff at Natura Splash the privilege, opportunity and responsibility to give back to the community. I look forward to seeing you around the pool sometime and continuing to be inspired by you all.
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- Veronica Cotto, Owner, Natura Splash,
