ISR Switzerland
ISR survival swimming lessons with Ilona Brandt
About Ilona
My mission is simple: to help children stay safe and to support parents in protecting what matters most.
Born and raised on the tropical island of Curaçao, water has always been a natural part of my life, and I spent most of my time in, on, or under it. My mother was a swim instructor, and I became a confident and safe swimmer at a young age. Water safety has always been non-negotiable for me, and my husband and I made sure that our kids were water safe from a very young age through ISR lessons.
We initially enrolled our daughter in conventional swimming lessons at age three, but we quickly became frustrated by the lack of progress. Months passed, and she was still far from being able to handle herself safely in the water. That changed when we discovered Infant Swimming Resource (ISR). I enrolled both our children, and within just a few weeks, they developed the skills to handle themselves safely and confidently in the water, giving us, as parents, peace of mind, and giving them the freedom to truly enjoy the water safely. Seeing what our kids were capable of in the water changed everything for me. It’s what inspired me to become an ISR Instructor and to bring ISR to families here in Switzerland.
It would be my pleasure and honour to teach your children the ISR self-rescue swimming skills through personalised, survival-focused swim instruction, to help them become confident aquatic problem solvers, and to equip them with the skills they need to stay safe and thrive in and around water.
I am a certified ISR Instructor and I speak and teach in German, English, Dutch, and Spanish. I am also a certified BLS-AED-SRC Generic Provider, and SLRG Brevet Plus Pool holder.
Frequently asked questions
I hear you say your priority is survival skills. Will my child learn to actually swim?
Yes. At ISR, we believe that part of survival for a child who can walk is swimming. Children learn the swim-float-swim sequence so that they could get themselves to safety. The difference in our program is that they will learn swimming AND survival skills and how to be an aquatic problem solver.
Can you really teach a child who is not verbal how to swim?
Yes. Consider that children learn to sit, crawl and walk before they learn to speak. Because we teach through sensori-motor learning, verbal skills are not required for a child to acquire Self-Rescue skills. We are able to communicate with our students through touch and positive reinforcement while striving to set our students up for success every step of the way.