Sink or Learn to Swim

Denise Westfall is a veteran swimming ­instructor who teaches at ORU’s indoor pool, Memorial Day through July 4.

Denise Westfall instructs students on proper stroke techniques.

This summer, much like every summer for the past 30 years, Denise Westfall will be teaching swimming to kids and adults of all ages. Denise teaches a full range of swimming skills. “So many kids quit at age six or seven, thinking they can swim, but they can’t do the strokes correctly. If they keep taking swimming, they’ll master the strokes and equip themselves for a lifetime of water safety skills.”

Denise has taught ­thousands of people to swim. “I never dreamed I’d be doing this for 30 years,” she says. “But I just love to teach swimming. I love getting to know the families that come year after year. I’ve now taught about ten children whose parents I also taught. It’s a very rewarding job, and I look forward to it every year.”

Denise teaches swimming for six weeks every year, from Memorial Day through July 4, at the Oral Roberts University indoor pool. “I only teach during the summer because I have three kids and a lot of activities that keep me busy throughout the year. But during these six weeks, I do nothing but teach swimming, including private lessons at other pools – sometimes up to 12 hours a day.

“I especially love to teach scared adults and kids,” says Denise. “Adults because I feel if they’re brave enough to face a fear they’ve had all their lives,

I want to do anything I can to help them. Children because I hate to think of a child missing out on swimming fun and ­safety.” All classes offer a five-to-one student-to-teacher ratio. “We have so many wonderful teachers from the Jenks swim team, and it’s a wonderful program for those kids to be involved in – a good character builder,” Denise says. Her programs typically divide swimmers by ability. “But if you have a group – friends, a family, a neighborhood – we can put you all in the same class. It’s more fun that way.”

Denise began teaching swimming when she was in ­college and working as a ­lifeguard at the outdoor Jenks city pool. “My first student was a high school girl who was deaf, and who didn’t want to be there – she would take out her hearing aids when I was talking to her and ignore me,” Denise says. “One day I brought my handsome boyfriend who was on the swim team up there, and then she was glad to do her best.”

Denise became a water ­safety instructor in 1980 and began teaching lessons. “Every year, more and more students came. About 1990, the Jenks athletic department needed someone to run their swim ­lesson program in the summer; I was glad to get inside, out of the sun. Each year, the program was great, and we taught a lot of kids with Down syndrome and with handicaps.”

Now, Denise teaches over 700 people each summer. “We start as young as two years old – we teach them to float on their back, to learn to like the water. And my oldest student was 88. We’ll cater to what you want to learn, from the basics to helping you work on your competitive stroke. We try to keep the price low so people can take swimming all summer long.”

Denise is now in her fourth year teaching at ORU’s pool. “It’s been great being at ORU,” she says. “It’s exciting for people to come and see the new ORU, which is so much more open to the community now.”

Denise Westfall offers ­swimming lessons at ORU every summer for six weeks from Memorial Day through the Fourth of July. She offers day and evening classes. “If anybody wants to swim, call me. I’ll teach you,” she says. “Our classes are tough, but fun.”

For more information, or to register for swim lessons, email Denise at eat0@eau0eav0eaw0

For more information, contact

Denise Westfall, Swimming Instructor

eat0@eau0eav0eaw0