If watching the USA Swim Team take home all those medals, makes you want to hit pool, you're not alone. Swim lessons are typically in high demand during an Olympics year.
Nine-year-old Austin Kraft could be the next Michael Phelps, or Ryan Lochte. He comes from a family of swimmers and is watching the Olympics very closely.
"When we dive in and do our dolphin kick with our streamline and when we get to the top of the water and we do our freestyle, that's what they do in the Olympics," said Austin.
His father, Jim Kraft, never made it to the Olympics but is glad to see his swimming skills run in the family."His backstroke is a lot better than mine ever was. He's built like a swimmer, he's skinny, he's got big feet so he's a fish," he said.
Austin is just one of more than 1,100 swimmers taking lessons at the Aquatics Center in Killeen. All that paperwork is keeping Aquatics Supervisor Sundae Hein busy. "It's the biggest season we've ever had. Last year we had 993 participants," she said.
That means about 200 more swimmers decided to dive in and try swimming this summer, but that doesn't surprise Sundae. "Every time you have Olympics or the World Games, your participation goes up and in between those two years it goes down," she said.
And with all the Gold the USA Swim Team is sporting this year, you can be sure it's inspiring young swimmers, like Austin. "It makes you work harder," he said.
If your children are interested in taking swimming lessons, the Aquatics Center will have their very last session this starting up this Tuesday, August 7th. CLICK HERE for more information.
