Water flows throughout swim instructor’s foundation for life

From guiding whitewater expeditions in Alaska and Canada to surfing in the Great Lakes and canoeing through Patagonia in Chile, Ione White says that water has been at the foundation of almost every part of her life.

The water has even led her to her husband, where the two met canoeing in Northern Minnesota, and she has lovingly donned the middle names of River and Lake upon two of her sons.

“I realized that I've never taken any vacation, any trip, or made any major decision in my life that hasn't had to do with water,” White said. “I'm just water all the way. It makes me happy.” 

White grew up in Kenora, a small town on Lake of the Woods in Northwest Ontario and has a bachelor’s in English and French literature. She is also certified to teach Insanity, Oula, Oula Power and Les Mills fitness workouts, and received her personal trainer certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Her other accolades include camp counseling and lifeguarding, but some of White’s most life-saving work has taken place here in the Flathead Valley as a swim instructor. 

Her name is well-known across the valley as parents applaud her for doing the near impossible — cultivating harmony among a gaggle of children. 

On almost any given day, White can be found singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” at Montana Athletic Club where she teaches in Bigfork. This is just one part of her technique to build confidence and resiliency in the water. 

“I can be having a terrible day and as soon as I walk into the water, it's always a good time. I'm really lucky to do this and I'm always happy to be in the water. I love working with kids and I like controlled chaos. I think it's a great way to learn to swim. Of course safety’s number one, but I think kids learn really well with each other,” she said. “Kids learn when they’re given the chance to try so I don’t inhibit them and I celebrate whatever they want to try whether I know they can do it or not — I always let them try.”

After 11 years of instruction, White estimates that she has taught thousands of children to swim and she has become truly integrated in the lives of her swimmers. While some have joined competitive swim teams, White jokes that she is still waiting for an Olympian. But the most important thing to her is that children come away from lessons with a love for the water. 

“My philosophy is very much that if we can become comfortable in the water, then we are more at home in the world since so much of our earth is water,” said White. “Everyone notices the difference in confidence and the personality emerging when their kids are learning how to swim. If kids can love the water, that’s more important than all the technique in the world.” 

White especially loves being in the water with her husband and three sons, and has taken several wilderness expeditions with them including the Green River in Utah and the Grand River for 27 days when her youngest son was 6. 

“Our longest trip was 45 days which was a combo trip where we put in in the ocean at Desolation Sound in British Columbia and paddled up Tobias Inlet for about two weeks,” said White. “Then we took a little plane over to Chilko Lake and paddled down 40 miles into the Chilcotin and Frazier River back down almost to where we started where we took out at Lillooet. We did that when our kids were 8, 13, and 17.”

Some of her kids’ favorite memories from these trips include getting in their sleeping bags at night and getting the fire going. Despite the challenges of traveling with young children, White hopes to inspire people to do it anyway as she says it makes the family unit closer and more bonded. 

White continues to explore rivers, lakes and oceans, and plans on taking a family gap year. While her sons are now grown, they all have a deep love of wild spaces sewn into them because of these early adventures.

“Swim with your kids. Camp with your kids. Adventure with your kids,” White said. 

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.