Caribe Nation, Today I’m writing from Ft. Myers, Florida. I’m here spending Christmas with my mom and stepdad. This post isn’t about swimming — but it is about what makes everything we do possible. I just want to say Happy Holidays and thank you. Thank you to everyone reading this newsletter, engaging in the community, or learning to swim through any piece of Caribe Swim content. You inspire me daily. You share your stories. You support one another without judgement. You open your hearts — to me, to swimming, and to each other. You are Caribe Swim. And you are changing how the world learns to swim. The truth is, what we’ve built here feels less like a program and more like a family. And families are held together by shared experiences, shared language, and shared traditions — the small things that create safety, belonging, and trust over time. That’s what transformation actually looks like. It’s not a single breakthrough moment. It's what happens when people feel supported enough to stay, to try, and to grow. Which is why, today, on a day filled with love, tradition, and family, I want to bring you into my home and share one of the most important traditions in our household. Every Christmas morning starts with a dish my grandmother, Mimi, made every year called “The Egg Dish.” Honestly, it should probably be called “The Cheese Dish.” But God rest her soul — I never had the heart to tell her. If you make it through more than one piece, you’re almost guaranteed an immediate nap. But more important than the food is what it represents. This dish instantly brings me back to Mimi — her love, her warmth, and the way she made everyone feel welcome at the table. And this morning, as we eat it, she’s with us. That’s what traditions do. They keep love alive. They create continuity. They remind us that we belong. And in many ways, that’s exactly what this community has become. Thank you for being part of it. Thank you for trusting the process. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey.

Since the last comment I wrote in here, I swam after missing a week and a half. First thing I noticed that my anxiousness or nervousness had subsided I also felt a little confident where I left off. I finally got to a point in my threading that all I have to do is tilt my head back- using the back of my head- to hold my head over water without using sculling and moving my legs/feet. In other words, like a vertical float. The second improvement is my breathing. Since I’m less fearful, my apprehension to blow out CO2 or exhale underwater is subsiding and I’m actually inhaling and exhaling air through my nose. I think again feeling more comfortable in the water. Hope this helps,Caribe Community.

The key I think to breath control once I got past the fear of the deep is having enough air in your diaphragm. I noticed that when I first start off I want to concentrate on breathing normal and thinking relax, but the last two trips to the pool I noticed that doesn’t work for me. First, I haven’t got use to the temperature in the water and secondly trying to breathe normal I tend to not or forget about putting air in my diaphragm. Once I do that I simply float better and am able to keep my head vertical as opposed to laying my head back because my normal buoyancy the surface of the water is eye level. Hope that sounds okay;.sorry if it doesn’t make sense. This is my 22-23 hour to threading practice. Thanks, Caribe Community.

Took a step forward in the relaxation part. Getting close to sculling slowly, light flutter kicking, and breathing normal. 8-9/10 with 21 hours of water practice in the books.

I was down to no floatations after the tenth hour of my thread water journey. After an additional five hours(15 hours) without the belt,I was doing vertical thread for one minute. I noticed that I was still sculling faster than slower and still bit fearful and tense. My default or assurance that I wasn’t going to drown was tilting my head back,‘sitting on a chair’ as you taught in your video, breathing normal through nose. I’ve been keeping air in my diaphragm during this whole process and now I’m confident enough to closely breathing normal. My relaxation is at 7-8 rating with 17 hours of completed practice. Just knowing that I have that range of thread Coach Jeff is my solace even though I want to accomplish more time threading vertical. Hoping it will get better or progress as I am already close to 20 hours(about 3 more). Thanks for everything. Caesar