LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Pools are open for the summer, but with that brings an added risk. There are over 4,000 unintentional drownings in the U.S. every year. Water safety skills are more important now than ever.

Eleven-month-old Savannah is learning to swim.

"She needed the foundational and fundamental skills to survive if she were to ever get in the pool by herself,” said Savannah's mom, Chrissy Roney. 

According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of accidental deaths in children ages 1-4. Savannah is a part of Little Seals Swim School in Louisville.

Instructor Molly Brooks has taught for 12 years as an Infant Swim Resource.

"I can teach a baby who is six-months-old how to roll back to their float sustain that float for as long as they need to until help arrives,” said Brooks. 

As students age, they can learn more and more skills such as swim-float-swim and swimming to the side all before the age of three.

Survival swim classes save lives as babies can drown in as little as thirty seconds.

"This is not a traditional swim lesson. They learn to survive instead of to swim at first….. It’s a skill that she’ll know her whole life, to be able to survive. If she to fall in a pool, a lake, anything," said Roney. 

Savannah has learned to stay on her back with 14 sessions and she’s not the only one learning water safety.

"It was very surprising. I was really nervous at first and I guess they just have these reflexes that help them and guide them through this," said fellow swim parent Kacy Rough. 

Lessons are every day for twelve minutes, many babies learn the life saving skill in less than three weeks. 

"It is just the coolest thing to know that she can sit for five seconds and I can get to her in that amount of time," said Roney. 

Little Seals offers classes year round to help as many little ones stay safe in the tub, pool, lake and more.