Water, Water Everywhere – And Travis Will Teach You to Swim in It!

That’s not always the case, though. Most island kids get plenty of splashing-in-the-waves time, and wading, and jumping off of boats, and playing in small backyard pools. They surf and boogie-board and feel downright confident in the ocean. But real swimming, the kind that involves laps (streamline, freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke), back and forth, with style and form and endurance, is a rare sight on Ocracoke.

With a little formal instruction though, Ocracoke kids – already at home in the briny wet – could swim like dolphins. All they need is someone to teach them.

Former NPS lifeguard Travis Ward is now offering private lessons to Ocracoke kids and adults. He’s a kind and patient teacher with the absolute beginners who don’t even want to get their faces wet. He’ll have them blowing bubbles and kicking their feet in no time. 

“Can I go to swim lessons every day?” asked one eager young student after lesson number one. “Now I can go underwater for a long time and do kicks,” she announced after her second lesson.

Although he’s worked with kids in groups before, he prefers to teach them individually.

“If you want your kids to learn to swim, one-on-one lessons are the best,” he said.

For older kids and adults who can already blow bubbles and keep themselves afloat, he offers help in improving strokes.

“It’s a lifelong process to learn how to swim perfectly,” he said. “There are always small ways to improve.”

Travis meets his students in local pools (with generous permission from the hotel owners), and also uses the open waters of Pamlico Sound for lessons, especially for swimmers who need to practice going greater lengths. He meets them by Robbie’s Way, a public sound access, where the water is fairly shallow and calm.

Ocean swimming is another type of lesson he offers. He’s not interested in teaching boogie-boarding or surfing, he says, but he wants kids to know about rip current awareness and ocean safety.

Travis first came to Ocracoke in 2004 as one of our NPS lifeguards. He was the lead lifeguard on Ocracoke and helped to train the new recruits in ocean rescue. There are proper swimming strokes for going in after somebody and bringing them back ashore, he says. 

Last year, he completed EMT training in Maryland and then got it reciprocated for North Carolina. He now works for Ocracoke EMS, and does his teaching on his days off.

Late last summer he started offering swim lessons on the island to some people who’d asked about the possibility. This year he put up signs at the Variety Store and coffee shop to advertise. He’s got about twenty-five students, most between the ages of 5 and 10.

Travis has been a pool lifeguard since he was in high school and got his water safety instructor certification.

While studying at Vassar College (it’s been co-ed since 1969 – who knew?), Travis lifeguarded there and was invited by the coach to join the swim team.

“The men’s team was pretty small,” he said. “And they didn’t have enough divers. So I got to dive and swim on the team.”

Travis spends his winters off the island attending community college (he’s studying engineering) and training aspiring Junior Olympians at the Michael Phelps swim school in Baltimore, MD. He starts with children as young as 3, and works with kids up to the age of 10. After his students can swim the length of the pool, he helps them with endurance and technique.

“Whether you already show expertise or have oceans to learn, Travis can help you improve your skills,” said one of his current Ocracoke pupils.

Lessons are $20 for ½ hour. Travis can be reached at 443-491-8202. 

Editor's note: Despite the need for swimming safety on Ocracoke, not all local kids have a pool at their disposal or any formal instruction in ocean safety. Over the years, different organizations have tried to address that need. Group swimming lessons for kids have been offered through the Methodist Church, the Ocracoke Youth Center, or with Terrilynn Grace in times past. Those classes were free or very low cost to ensure that as many kids came as possible, and they depended on the generosity of local hotel owners for use of the pools. For many summers, Water Safety Instructor Jennifer Garrish taught kids, beginning with the babies and toddlers right up to the middle grades, as part of a Youth Center program. But for the past two years, no non-profit program has sponsored swimming lessons.