Dr. Ludmilla Rosengren
2025 Virginia Hunt Newman International Award Recipient

Dr. Ludmilla Rosengren entered the world of infant swimming purely by chance in 1989 when her eldest daughter was two years old and began her swimming lessons. From the very start, she became actively involved in the association she joined and saw opportunities to develop the program. Shortly thereafter, alongside her medical studies, she founded her infant swimming school: Linnéas Simskola in Sweden.

After completing her medical degree, Ludmilla realized that she needed to hire instructors for the school to grow and maintain its quality. In 1997, she took another major step by launching a training program for infant swimming instructors and founding the Swedish Babyswim Association (Svenska Babysimförbundet). The aim was to increase knowledge among parents and instructors and to improve the quality of infant swimming activities.

In the 1990s, infant swimming was still largely focused on “dives” and the diving reflex, but Ludmilla instead advocated for a more structured and safety-oriented approach, where clear guidelines and goals provided a professional framework. She was also one of the first to promote the idea that children should not learn the breaststroke as their first stroke, but rather freestyle as it is easier to use earlier.

Ludmilla conducted a university study on reflexes and infant swimming (Goksor, E.; Rosengren, L.; Wennergren, G. (2002). “Bradycardic response during submersion in infant swimming” Acta Paediatr. 91(3): 307–312.), which showed that although various reflexes exist, they are not essential for the actual act of infant swimming. Based on these findings, she developed a new technique in which the child learns to hold their breath before submerging underwater for the first time.

Ludmilla has also emphasized how crucial it is for parents to be properly prepared and informed, given that the child’s sense of security is entirely dependent on how secure the parents feel. For this reason, she wrote Babysimboken  (The Baby Swim Book), which is not only included in beginner courses at her swimming school but is also used by many others and serves as course material for instructor training programs. The book is also available in English.

Over the years, Ludmilla has trained baby swimming instructors around the world and has been a frequent speaker at international conferences.

In 2008, she experienced a great personal tragedy when her 14-year-old daughter Linnéa took her own life. This event came to shape Ludmilla’s continued commitment as a physician and CBT therapist, and she also founded the organization Suicide Zero in Sweden to combat mental illness and suicide.

Since its inception in 1993, Linnéas Simskola has operated in six different cities and 18 different pools. In 2016, Ludmilla built her own swimming facility in Uppsala, where all instruction is now centralized.

In recent years, she has also managed to combine her two areas of expertise by researching postpartum depression and baby swimming as a therapeutic method (BIDAP – Babyswim as an Intervention for Depressive Symptoms and Deficient Bonding during the Postpartum Period).

In summary, Ludmilla’s drive to combine mental security with quality and scientific development has significantly contributed to elevating the status of infant swimming in Sweden and internationally. Her efforts to organize, structure, and train new instructors have had a lasting impact on the entire field.

Alongside her professional endeavors, she is also the mother of five children and grandmother to three grandchildren.