Michelle Reignier

Michelle Reignier is a retired professional who, at age 65 and a decade after surviving a stroke, earned her Red Cross Lifeguarding and Water Safety Instructor (WSI) certifications to build a second career in aquatics. Based in Wolcott, Connecticut, she now works part-time and per diem as a lifeguard and swim instructor, taking on private lessons and event coverage while remaining open to opportunities with local parks and recreation programs. Her path into the field was shaped by a personal brush with danger: a near-drowning experience as a child at Lake George left a lasting impression that later became the driving force behind her commitment to water safety.

Michelle's specialty lies in working with the populations most vulnerable to drowning, particularly children between the ages of two and six, and she has also successfully guided a young boy with autism through his fear of water using a patient, incremental teaching approach. She champions early, low-pressure water familiarization practices, such as encouraging infants and toddlers to float in the bathtub or put their faces under running water, as simple but effective tools for reducing childhood drowning risk. In the summer of 2023, she put this expertise to work teaching swimming at a local waterfront through Wolcott Parks & Recreation.

Beyond the pool, Michelle brings a varied professional background to her work, having spent years as a part-time pharmacy technician with CVS Caremark and as a project analyst and consultant for Covidien's surgical products division. She is also active in her community as the Advancement Chair for St. Thomas School and Parish in Southington, Connecticut, a role she has held since 2011. Looking ahead, Michelle hopes to deepen her impact on local water safety by supporting efforts to bring a public pool to her town, extending her drowning-prevention mission to a wider audience of children and families.