In an area where the water is a mainstay of recreation, swimming is a vital skill.

Boat rides along the Pamlico River are a preferred form of recreation for many area residents, and favorite family vacation destinations include the beaches of the Outer Banks and the Crystal Coast.

“We live in a water town and I think it’s important that everyone here learns to swim,” said Spencer Pake, a coach with the Washington Whitecaps swim league for 10 years. “It’s a lifelong skill and a lifelong sport.”

Pake’s students range in age from 4 to 18 years old. While the Whitecaps league isn’t a swimming lessons group, it does promote and encourage confidence in the water.

“We ask that they be able to somehow, someway make it across the length of the pool,” Pake said of the request that each student possess some type of basic swimming skill. “We are trying to build stronger swimmers through friendly competition and daily practices.”

Pake said he has seen timid youngsters become more comfortable in the water.

“They really become confident in themselves,” he said. “People that struggle to swim throughout life really build a fear of the water. And here we try to diminish that fear at a young age.”

A lifelong swimmer himself, Pake learned early on the importance of being confident in the water.

“I was a lifeguard in high school and I had to save many swimmers who got out of their comfort zone and panicked,” Pake recalled. “And that’s one of the worst things you can do in the water.”

Parker Sheppard, 11, a rising sixth grade student at P.S. Jones Middle School in Washington, has been swimming with the Whitecaps since he was 5 years old.

Pake said when Parker started with the group he was comfortable in the river, “as long as he could stand.”

Six years later Parker said he is much more confident in the water.

“I’ve learned a lot of techniques,” he said. “I’ve learned to be more comfortable and to keep calm, and I always think positive.”