OTTUMWA — “The first time I see the little three- or four-year-old float on their back; it is so rewarding to see the look of wonderment and pride in his or her eyes,” Barbara Smart says, fighting back tears.

She has taught hundreds of Ottumwa area children to swim over the years.

One would never guess that Smart is a senior citizen. She proudly says, “I’ll be 73 years old early this summer.”

She doesn’t look it, nor does she act like your typical older person. Maybe it is her sunny personality and her almost perpetual smile. Perhaps that is because she has been teaching swimming lessons to everyone from 3- to 80-years-old for more years than she can count (early on at the Ottumwa YMCA and since 1999, at The Beach, Ottumwa.

All ages simply call her “Barb,” and she is proud that she is now teaching children of adults she taught to swim earlier (and perhaps grandchildren, too). Mostly she teaches in groups, but she also gives private lessons to those who never learned and those who are afraid of the water.

She begins with a series of five lessons and goes as far as the person wants to go.

One little 80-year-old lady asked Smart to teach her to swim “so I can go by myself” when I stay at the motels when I travel.”

Smart says, “Everyone does not need to be a competition swimmer, but I want them to be able to be around water of any depth without being afraid because they know what to do, know how to float, how to tread water. Basic skills beyond that like kicking and strokes are pretty much up to them. I can teach them how to do it, depending on how much they can do healthwise.”

In a case like the 80-year old, she says, the woman was delighted to be able to float and kick and be safe in the water. “She was as excited as one of the children and I felt as if I had given her a real gift by teaching her to swim. I guess that is what I love so much, is that I am helping others enjoy their life more,” Smart says.

She’s looking forward to the start of summer activities at The Beach Ottumwa when she will start working again Monday through Friday, teaching at least three one-hour group swimming sessions, plus private lessons as needed. Previously, she has taught water aerobics and is qualified as a life guard.

She always lets the small children go down the slide (there are height restrictions) for one time only. They can only go with “Barb” when they have completed their five lessons as a reward, and she catches them at the bottom. Her eyes twinkle when she tells this story — she enjoys it as much as her little students.

Born and raised in Aberdeen, S.D., Smart says she must come from strong stock because her father lived to be 102 years old and played cards and was agile up to the end, only taking one vitamin per day. Her brother died of a brain tumor at age 65, and her mother had died about 20 years earlier of pneumonia at age 82.

Smart met her husband, Daniel, in college in South Dakota where he got a master’s degree in guidance counseling. They lived in South Dakota until 1969 when they moved to Ottumwa. He had a job with the State of Iowa, Division of Rehabilitation. She was a dental assistant and worked for the late Dr. Arthur Haag from 1975 until his retirement in 1995.

In 1982, tragedy struck. Her husband had a heart attack while cutting logs, at the age of 48 years, leaving his widow with the six children. Now, the two boys live in other states, but the four girls and some of their families live around Ottumwa.

Smart says that her 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren keep “her busy and grounded, because we are a very close family and always have been.”