Meet the Instructors
Gaylynne Sword
Founder and Master Instructor
Gaylynne Sword has been a dedicated advocate in the drowning prevention community since 2009, teaching thousands of swim survival lessons to children across the country. As a master instructor, she has trained nearly 50 instructors in aquatic survival skills and water safety, ensuring that more families have access to life-saving education.
Her passion lies in making survival swim training as essential and routine as well-child checkups and car seat safety. Through SafeSwimSolutions, she is committed to providing swim lessons for children ages 8 months to 8 years, including private swim lessons, survival swim training, and adaptive swim programs. Her goal is to give parents peace of mind, knowing their children have the skills to respond in an aquatic emergency and prevent drowning.
Gaylynne founded SafeSwimSolutions with the mission of making water safety education and survival swim lessons accessible to every family, regardless of background or schedule. She believes that learning aquatic survival skills should be a standard part of child development, helping children gain confidence and competence in the water from an early age.
When not in the pool, Gaylynne enjoys life in West Sonoma County with her husband and their crazy dog, Piper. She spends her time writing, visiting her grown children, and continuing her work in water safety advocacy.
Stephanie Webb
Certified Aquatic Survival Instructor
In 2017, Stephanie Webb experienced a terrifying wake-up call when her 3.5-year-old daughter suffered a non-fatal drowning accident at a grandparent’s pool. Like many parents, she thought she had taken all the right precautions—using floaties, closing pool gates, and enrolling her child in traditional swim lessons. But after the accident, she realized that while her daughter had learned to enjoy the water, she hadn’t learned how to survive in it.
Determined to change that, Stephanie immediately enrolled both of her children in survival swim lessons, and the results were life-changing. Seeing firsthand how aquatic survival training gave them the skills and confidence to stay safe in the water, she became certified to teach infant, toddler, and children's swim survival lessons in 2021. Now, she is passionate about helping other families equip their children with water safety skills that could save their lives.
Stephanie lives in Santa Rosa with her husband, daughter, son, and their energetic Kooikerhondje puppy. When she’s not teaching swim survival lessons, she enjoys hiking, cycling, camping, and traveling with her family for her children’s many sports activities.
Erin Stammer
Certified Aquatic Survival Instructor
Erin Stammer takes a sensorimotor learning approach to aquatic survival lessons, helping infants, toddlers, and young children build confidence and essential water safety skills at her private residence in Northeast Santa Rosa. Her passion for swim survival training is deeply personal, and she is committed to ensuring every child gains the skills needed to stay safe in the water.
As a mother of three, Erin discovered a new calling when she re-entered the workforce—helping children develop survival swim skills. In 2022, she experienced a devastating loss when her oldest son, Vance Stammer, was killed by a drunk driver. This tragedy gave her an even stronger drive to positively impact families in her community. By teaching life-saving aquatic survival techniques, she hopes to prevent another family from experiencing the heartbreak of losing a child to drowning.
Erin is known for her compassionate and personalized approach to infant swim lessons and survival swim training. She builds trust with both children and parents, tailoring lessons to each child’s unique needs and developmental level. Her goal is to make learning to swim a fun, confidence-building experience, while ensuring every child gains critical self-rescue skills.
When she’s not in the pool, Erin enjoys spending time with her husband, 14-year-old daughter, and their fur babies. She finds peace in nature, riding her horse, and hiking, embracing the outdoors as much as possible.
Pandi Chorey
Certified Aquatic Survival Instructor
Pandi Chorey is a dedicated survival swim instructor who teaches aquatic survival skills to young children in Davis, CA. Since becoming certified in 2021, she has successfully taught hundreds of children in Yolo County how to develop water competency and essential toddler swim safety skills.
Pandi’s passion for infant swim survival and toddler swim lessons stems from a personal experience—a near-drowning incident in a backyard pool as a child left a lasting impact on her life. Determined to ensure her own children would be safe in the water, she transitioned from a career as a school teacher to becoming a survival swim lessons instructor. Now, she is fully committed to teaching water safety for children, helping families gain peace of mind through swim lessons for children.
She is thrilled to bring her expertise and passion to the SafeSwimSolutions team, where she continues her mission of making children safer around water.
When she’s not in the pool, Pandi enjoys exploring the West Coast with her husband, two kids, and their dog in their camper van—embracing adventure both on land and in the water.
Kourtney’s Kause
Kourtney's Kause is a non-profit organization founded in honor of Kourtney Andrews, who lost her life to drowning in 2017. Serving Santa Clara County and beyond, Kourtney's Kause believes that every child should have access to high quality swim lessons. To make that a possibility, we grant swim lesson scholarships, offer a variety of instructors, consistently expand our team to meet demand, and offer lessons at various times and locations to accommodate different schedules and living situations.