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.
Susanne Malebranche, Founder / Instructor
Susanne is a lifelong St. Mary’s County resident. She was a volunteer for over 20 years with the Second District Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad in Valley Lee, MD. She spent 13 of those years as an Emergency Medical Technician. She witnessed the devastating impacts of childhood drowning and wants to be part of the mission to ensure “Not One More Child Drowns.” Susanne was introduced to ISR in 2008 and was instantly captivated with the ISR program and vowed that one day when she had children, she was going to enroll them in lessons. In 2018 she finally became a mom to boy/girl twins. She was continuously worried about them being around water for fear that she might have to take her eyes off one to help the other. She called the nearest ISR Instructor, who was 1.5 hours away. Together with her husband, they committed and enrolled the twins in lessons. When she saw her 20-month-old toddlers demonstrate their aquatic survival skills for the first time on their own, it literally took her breath away and made her heart burst with pride. She was so impressed with the ISR program that she decided to leave her finance career as a Department of the Navy Civilian. In 2021, she established SOMD ISR LLC and became an ISR Instructor to offer these life-saving, confidence-building skills to the children in her community. In addition to teaching ISR lessons, she was asked by a local mom, Cara Bean to help establish a non-profit organization - Erin’s Star, Inc. in memory of her daughter. Erin was a 3.5 year old little girl who was on a path to an autism diagnosis and tragically drowned in September 2021. When Susanne is not in the water teaching children, you can find her at events helping to bring awareness to childhood drowning and autism awareness with Erin’s Star. Susanne believes there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a young child in the water roll onto his or her back and float for the very first time. Watching young children learn valuable skills and develop confidence in themselves is very special and rewarding to her.
Sarah Moore, Instructor
Sarah Moore moved to St. Mary’s County in 2010 as a Maryland State Trooper assigned to the Leonardtown Barrack. She served St. Mary’s County for three years. During that time, she witnessed firsthand, the tragedy of drowning. She no longer serves as a Maryland State Trooper, however the impact of being a first responder has never dissipated. In 2021, when she heard the tragic news about the drowning of Erin Bean, a local 3.5 year old little girl, her own daughter was four years old at the time. As a mother, first responder, and ‘neighbor’ she was devastated for the Bean family’s loss. Since that tragic loss, the surrounding community had additional drownings which increased her desire to help prevent childhood drowning. She spent time observing the local ISR Instructor, Susanne Malebranche, teach lessons and decided she wanted to help bring more availability to ISR lessons. Sarah completed her ISR Instructor training in May 2024 and currently offers lessons after working all day at her full-time job. She is a mom of 2, a wife, and loves being with family and friends spending time outdoors. She also enjoys animals, music, and reading. She looks forward to the opportunity to meet new families and provide the children in our community with another layer of protection around the water - ISR Self-Rescue skills!
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