About
About ISR
Founded in 1966 by Dr. Harvey Barnett, Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) is now the global leader in the industry it pioneered: survival swimming lessons for infants and young children. Our team of more than 1,000 Certified ISR Instructors in more than 20 countries provides the safest and most effective survival swimming lessons available. The ISR Self-Rescue instruction our students receive today is the product of more than 50 years of research and development and has resulted in more than 15 million safe lessons worldwide.
ISR believes that pool fences, supervision, and pool alarms are important parts of a necessary multi-layered approach to drowning prevention. However, traditional lines of defense break down, and the over 4,000 drowning deaths per year bear a grim testament to the fact that traditional approaches are missing a key component: the child. ISR’s core conviction is that the child is the most important part of a drowning prevention strategy.
Children are curious, capable, and have an uncanny ability to overcome obstacles like pool fences; at ISR we take that ability and teach them skills to potentially save themselves if they find themselves in the water alone.
Meet Your Instructors
Katie Berdis
Meet Katie! Katie started her ISR journey when her son was 18 months old while living in Cincinnati for her husband's fellowship. After completing his ISR Self-Rescue skillset, she wanted her son to continue in lessons. Knowing there wasn't an instructor in the area, she decided to become one herself. Katie and her husband, Anthony, live in Austintown, Ohio, and are proud parents to three-year-old Mason. Katie has a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in Elementary Education but decided to pursue her love for teaching differently. When she is not in the pool, she loves to spend time with her family and friends and root on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Youngstown State football teams.
Kara Burnett
Meet Kara! Kara began her ISR journey in February 2020 with six weeks of intense in-water and out-of-water training. She first became interested in ISR when a family member drowned in a private pool. It was then that she realized that this tragic accident could have been prevented. She was inspired to make sure children have the skills needed to survive an accidental fall into the water. Her goal is to educate parents and the community about water safety and ensure "not one more child drowns."
In addition to teaching ISR, Kara has been a full-time physical education and health teacher for twenty years. She received her BS degree from Mount Union College and her Master's Degree from Ashland University. She resides in Canfield, Ohio, with her husband of 19 years and her two children. When Kara isn't teaching school or in the pool, she enjoys being active, playing tennis, golf, and spending time with her family.
Nicole Hart
Meet Nicole! Nicole’s ISR journey began when her sister started training her son in ISR lessons when he was two. Amazed by what he was able to accomplish, she decided to join her sister and become an instructor as well. Nicole and her husband, originally from the area, are current residents of Austintown Ohio. They have two boys that keep them very busy. Prior to ISR, Nicole also loved working as a professional dancer. She danced for Holland America traveling to more destinations than she can count, performed in the ensemble for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and most recently, she worked at Walt Disney World in “Festival of the Lion King” where she performed as an aerialist. Nicole is also a certified Pilates instructor. In her spare time, which isn’t very often, she likes sewing, knitting, crocheting, along with other crafts.
Is your swim instructor a Certified ISR Instructor?
There are many instructors who say they teach ISR techniques, however, unless they are listed on the ISR Instructor locator on the official ISR website and meet the criteria below, they are NOT Certified ISR Instructors.
All Certified ISR Instructors:
Have an email address ending in @infantswim.com
Can provide parents with a copy of their current ISR Certificate for review
Offer lessons five consecutive days per week, for a maximum of 10 minutes each day
Will require your child to be registered through ISR’s Online Registration Process and approved to begin lessons by our Registration Evaluation Team (approval email will come from an email address ending in @infantswim.com)
Complete the Daily BUDS Discussion form with you prior to each lesson
Can be found on the instructor locator at locator.infantswim.com