For many families, swim lessons are a rite of passage. For others, they’re an unavailable opportunity.

Madeline Caron saw that gap firsthand and decided to do something about it. She created a space where every child, regardless of ability, could feel safe, included, and confident in the water.

A pediatric speech therapist by training, Madeline never imagined that her path would lead her to founding SplashAbilities TN, an inclusive swim program designed specifically for children and adults with disabilities. But looking back, the dots connect clearly: years of teaching swim lessons in high school and college, hands-on work with individuals with varying disabilities, and a deep understanding that not everyone learns or feels safe in the same way.

Madeline’s professional journey includes helping establish the Special Needs Aquatic Program (SNAP) while at Purdue University, and later spending seven years working at Vanderbilt University as a pediatric speech therapist. There, she worked closely with children at the Preschool for Children with Autism—an experience that would profoundly shape her mission.

“When I worked at Vanderbilt, we lost one of my patients to a drowning accident,” Madeline shared. “That stays with you. This need to do something more for this community became a quiet but constant fire in me.”

She began to notice a heartbreaking pattern: families reaching out because their children had been removed from traditional swim lessons or simply couldn’t find a program equipped to meet their needs. Adaptive swim programs were scarce, often overbooked, and inaccessible to many families.

At the same time, Madeline was navigating the realities of being a working mom. Policy changes at Vanderbilt made flexibility difficult, and swim lessons, initially an outlet, slowly grew into something much bigger. Interest skyrocketed. Families kept calling. The need was undeniable.

One Friday, after just a few weeks of lessons, Madeline applied for her LLC. By the following Monday, she received a job offer from Sumner County Schools at a preschool center just five minutes from the Gallatin Civic Center, where she was already teaching swim lessons.

“It felt like a sign,” she said. “I quite literally dove right in.”

That leap of faith led her to step away from her job at Vanderbilt and fully develop SplashAbilities TN—a program rooted in the belief that swimming isn’t just a skill. It’s a way for children to explore their senses, build confidence, and express themselves.

While not technically therapy, Madeline describes it as “inclusive swimming,” focusing on sensory exposure, strength, communication, and, most importantly, safety.

Unlike traditional swim lessons that emphasize strokes and rigid benchmarks, SplashAbilities adapts to the child. Lessons focus on water awareness, waiting for cues, floating safely, understanding that walls are safer than clinging to another person, and breaking progress into micro-goals. Every child’s eight-week journey looks different, and that’s the point.

“Not all children learn well through verbal instruction,” Madeline explained. “They need repetition, a slower pace, and a safe environment where they’re allowed to explore. That’s what we do in speech therapy, and it translates beautifully to the water.”

She shared stories that perfectly capture the heart of her work: a child who wouldn’t enter the water until the sixth lesson, eventually kicking across the pool with guidance and a floating barbell; another who clung tightly to Madeline for seven classes and now confidently walks across the pool holding the wall and her hand.

Progress doesn’t always look the same, but it always matters.

Recognizing the lack of resources nationwide, Madeline has created a full SplashAbilities curriculum to train adaptive swim instructors, complete with lessons and assessments that take about two hours to complete. Her hope is to expand awareness, build capacity, and eventually make adaptive swim education more accessible to teens and adults interested in teaching.

She also dreams of one day transitioning SplashAbilities into a nonprofit, or partnering with a nonprofit, to expand its reach even further. And beyond that? She clings to a big, beautiful dream of a farm with a pool, horses, and an outdoor school for children and adults with disabilities.

When asked what the most rewarding part of her work is, Madeline didn’t hesitate.

“All of it,” she said. “I love problem-solving. I love figuring out what a child needs to feel safe and successful. Seeing them accomplish something that once felt impossible, and watching them feel proud of themselves—that’s everything.”

Thanks to Madeline Caron and SplashAbilities TN, more children are experiencing the joy of inclusion, the confidence that comes from communication, and the life-saving power of water—one splash at a time.

Visit Madeline's website here.