Vicki Montessoro

Vicki was born into a family that spent all their time in and on the water Raised in San Diego, Ca, she grew up in the San Diego Mission Bay Boat and Sky Club. At 15 she was certified as a Scuba Diver when the PADI Dive Association was still in its infancy.

Vicki worked for the Commander Naval Forces Marianas as a lifeguard, WSI (Water Safety Instructor), and pool manager in Guam. She became a Dive Master and taught Swimming, Advanced Lifesaving, CPR, and First Aid. After moving to Hawaii in 1977, Vicki taught Lifesaving, CPR, and First Aid for Kapiolani Community College and various Adult Ed programs in Waikiki.

 In, 1981, in New York, she was awarded the “Rescuer of the Year Award” by the American Heart Association for performing CPR on a bystander, saving his life. She graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in Biology. For the next 8 years, she worked for 7Z’s as a WSI and lifeguard. Vicki began teaching infants in the old-fashioned “One, two, three, dunk” method in the Hamptons. She taught her children to swim as infants.  

Vicki has continued to teach in the Hamptons for the last 40 years with short reprieves to care for her sons with disabilities. Her daughter Kim joined her at the age of 12 as her aide. Kimberly took on her students at the age of 16 and has been teaching Vicki’s method for the past 18 years. Vicki has changed her method greatly since she started by using fun and encouragement, rather than force, to get students to swim as fast as possible as well as possible.

Vicki became an Adapted Aquatics Instructor and got her NSSA (Now the USSSA) certification in infant and toddler swimming to add to her WSI, First Aid, CPR, and Lifeguarding Instructor certifications. After raising her children, Vicki went on to get her Master’s Degree in Special Education and her PADI Scuba Instructor’s Certification in 2009. She is a NY State Certified Teacher in Biology, Teaching Students with Disabilities Biology, Chemistry, General Science, and Art. She currently teaches biology and Earth science for an online high school and has recently finished writing an Earth science curriculum for the online school. Vicki is now writing her “Montessoro Method” of swimming curriculum which will hopefully be completed in late 2024.