Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Strauss. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Professor Robert Strauss, M. Ed. (U of Miami ‘75-’77), has dedicated his professional career to aquatic safety in, around, and underwater. Through Aquatic Education, Coach Strauss has enriched the lives of babies, toddlers, school-age children, teens, and adults, assisting them to discover how to be safer and stronger swimmers. Coach Robert is well known for the development of instructional skills based on soft touch and soft voice; these skills have been taught to 1000s of teachers around the world. In May 2019 Coach Robert was awarded the most prestigious award in the learn to swim industry, the Virginia Hunt Newman Award, by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, ISHOF. In September 2019, was awarded the NADI Water Drop, the most prestigious award in the swimming industry in South America recognizing trajectory, innovation, and relevant contributions to the field of swimming.
Robert and life partner, Jennie, founded swim gym in 1984 and re-invented the swim school business in a warehouse, nowadays commonly found in strip malls and warehouses, across the country. In 1997, swim gym relocated to the Dave & Mary Alper JCC in S. Miami and made it their headquarters until the end of summer 2018. In the spring of 2012, swim gym was invited to restructure and operate the Aquatics program at MAR-JCC in Aventura; the program was turned around from grossing $150K to surpassing $450K, in the fall of 2012, the Swim Gym Swim School opened its doors at the Galbut JCC in Miami Beach, its present home and only location.
The 3-lane pool & V shape at the MB-JCC improved conditions to teach and coach people of all ages and turned Swim Gym into one of the Top 50 Authorized Providers of the American Red Cross in Florida Chapter, this includes certification of water safety instructors and lifeguards, as well as the learn to swim program, that teaches an average 300 children per week during the school year and approximately 600 children per week during the 10 weeks of summer. At present, Coach Robert spends time travelling lecturing on the art and science of discovering how to swim, sharing his experience and knowledge gained since the ’73-’74 school year of teaching and administration.
Robert’s passion didn’t stop at the learning levels, he has coached and trained swimmers to swim fast, motivating and empowering them to reach their maximum potential, guiding them to become members of collegiate, national and international teams, both in the USA and abroad.
Robert was the coach of Team USA to the Pan-Am Maccabi Games 1991 & 2007; for the third time, in the summer of 2019, Robert was appointed to be the head coach of Team USA to Mexico City at the CDI Centro Deportivo Israelita, the place where Robert in 1955, as a 3-year-old, started his swimming career!
Most educators teach their subject in a classroom; Coach Strauss teaches Water Wisdom in a warm water pool and coaches in a semi-Olympic pool, fast swimming.
• The Vision: every person should have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to SAFELY ENTER AND EXIT A BODY OF WATER
• The Value: through the art form of swimming, people learn a healthy lifestyle, to pay attention, to share, to cooperate, to wait their turn, to become valuable team members, and most important SAFE in, around and under water in any aquatic sport.
• The Mission: ‘To eradicate drowning from our communities through education’
• The Objective: to assist all participants to discover swimming in order to find the joy and passion coupled to the benefits inherent to swimming in particular and water sports in general.
• The Goal: Everyone should be Water Wise.
o Water Wisdom is a decision-making process that empowers a person to enter a body of water after the exit plan is in place.
From 1979 to present, Robert Strauss contributed to learn to swim and competitive swimming conferences around the globe: México, his country of birth, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Peru, Canada, USA, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Iceland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Austria, China, Malaysia, and Singapore; he is a well sought-after speaker; fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German. This millennium alone reflects the cutting-edge techniques utilized by Coach Strauss as evidenced by his speaking engagements. References upon request…
In 2020 – ‘21, during the Pandemic crisis, all the time was spent at the Swim Gym Swim School in the Miami Beach JCC, his home base. Broadcasting 2 nights per week, one each, in English and Spanish on Meet Google a weekly Swiminar for a total of 20 weeks and was repeated twice. Parallel to this development Coach RS recorded 20 presentations on learn to swim and development of the competitive swimmer for virtual learning in Spanish in the platform of www.rednadi.com and took on a daily double talk 30’ in English and 30’ in Spanish to interview Aquatic experts around the world; this program continues on a 3x/week basis: Cafecito with Coach Robert on Instagram @swim_gym. In 2020 and 2021, during the 6’safe distance with a little creativity a small team of 12 to 18 swimmers during the previous 8 years grew to almost 60 swimmers, the program had to expand, and recently negotiations took place to move the Swim Gym Swim Team to the Scott Rakow Community Center in Miami Beach 1 mile south of his present location.
In 2020, Coach Robert begun with a strong schedule delivering a presentation in January at the International Swim School Spectacular organized by Ross Gage in Singapore. Preceded by a 3-day RS Swiminar in Kuala Lumpur at the DSA Swim School and in Singapore at the Ang Peng Siong Swim Academy. Immediately after that, in February in Puebla, Mexico in combination with Asociación de Cultura Física who shares similar mission to eradicate accidental drowning and childhood obesity from our communities through physical aquatic education.
During 2019 RS lectured during 3 trips to Argentina at the NADI Aquatic Pros and Activity Centers, annual summit in Buenos Aires, where he was honored with the 2019 NADI Water Drop Award; VII Summit of “Actualización en Ciencias del Movimiento” (Update in the Science of Movement), in Cordoba, and at the 31st FIEP World Congress, in Termas de Río Hondo, where he was awarded Distinguished Visitor honors, earlier on the way to these events, Coach Robert presented in Cañada de Gómez, Sta. Fé, where he was also awarded Distinguished Visitor honors. 2019 ended with a full 3-day RS Swiminar in San Jose, Costa Rica under the auspices of Kurt Niehaus Swim Academy.
Born in Mexico in 1952, member of the Mexican national age group team from ’61 to ’67; member of the Mexican Senior National Team from ’69 to ’73, represented Mexico in the Olympic Games in Munich ’72; Pan American Games ’71 in Cali, and Central American ’70 in Panama; World University Games in Turin, Italy in ’70 and in Moscow, Russia in ’73; He also represented Mexico in the World Maccabi Games in Israel ’69 & ’73. Parallel to his commitment to the Mexican national team, Robert attended the U of Miami with a swimming scholarship from Jan. 1971 to May 1974, studied Mass Communications, and represented the U of Miami Athletic Department, where he lettered 3 years in a row.
In 1975, he earned a graduate assistantship to attend the School of Physical Education at the University of Miami and earned a Master’s in Education with emphasis in Recreation Administration, Educational Psychology, and Physiology in 1977. Robert is one of a few who attended college to date after graduation continues to do what he went to school to prepare for.
Robert has lived in Miami, Florida his entire professional career; married Jennie in 1975; they have 2 sons, Alan (1979) & Jonathan (1982), married to Natalie and Danielle respectively, and 6 grandchildren Siena (2011), Sebastian (2011), Henri (2014), Levi & Stella (2016), Kiara (2018)
Publications:
November 2019: revised Discover Swimming copyright 2012 reprinted
November 2018: Descubre la Natación is made available in hard copy
June 2014: Discover Swimming is made available as an E-book
January 2013: Descubre la Natación, un acercamiento con sentido común. E-book
November 2011: Discover Swimming from A to… SWIM – A common sense approach.
January 2007: DVD – Why Swim, If You Can Fly?! Re-recorded
October 2003: DVD: My First 15 Months of Aquatic Life English and Spanish
September 2000: VHS – Why Swim, If You Can Fly?! English and Spanish
May 2000: Swim Teachers Handbook
To contact Coach Robert Strauss in order to bring an RS Swiminar into your facility write directly to: coachrs@swimgym.net or call +1-305-283-6390
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Smooth road, you mean like when Alan was diagnosed with a hormonal discrepancy however helping in a study at the time helped to pay over $200K of the treatment.
Or when Jennie was assaulted @ Swim Gym, punched in the face, and robbed when Jonathan was almost 7… we needed family therapy. And hire an off-duty police for 3 months every day we were at swim gym!
Or when the relocation clause was erased from our renewable deal for another 10 years, only to be informed 2 years into contract that I had to move out cause they were selling the property.
Or when we moved out of Pinecrest owing in excess $500K and through hard work, long hours, sacrifice, many trips to conferences, etc. we can say as of right now at 70 and 67, we are debt free, home paid,
Bumpy ride; how about 2015 2 major operations that required months of rehab to get back in shape; January I operated 5 cervicals then in September 4 lumbars and sacro. Pandemic times were as smooth as could be expected we both got it and I was asymptomatic, and Jennie was out a couple weeks.
In 1971 I was 1 in 1975, we were 2, and in 2018 we became 12, 2 sons & 2 daughters whom together made 6 grandchildren. And we’re on the 48th year of our honeymoon!!! It’s been a smooth ride!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We always shared all our tricks. We study science of education and the science of water, apply it artistically, and it comes out like magic. To Assitant people to discover swimming at all ages and levels. We work from inexperienced to elite athletes
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I will be retired in the next 5 years. The industry has taken a very positive turn from the safety and education points of view as well as the profitability and the professionalism of the practitioners
Contact Info:
- Website: www.swimgym.net
- Instagram: Swim_gym and coach_robert
- Facebook: Swimgym school
- Twitter: @coachrs
- Youtube: swim gym@swimgymMiami
