Say hello to Lucy, the laughing water cherub from Stamford Bridge.

Born last April, little Lucy Leonard spends a lot of her time underwater, under the watchful eye of Jane, her mum. And always, she comes up chortling.

Now a whole generation of new, happy submariner infants will drop beneath the surface as the business Pool Babies extends into York tomorrow.

Pool Babies evolved in September from a toddler group,The Bubble Club, part of the Morley Swimming School, which uses Stamford Bridge primary school pool.

Marjolyn Morley, the swimming school's organiser and fellow instructor, Helen Moore, whose own two children became Bubble Babies, decided to tap into the fashionable way of teaching water safety to babies from birth - a technique which, they say, gives infants better heart and lung power and a lifetime of confidence.

Now they are extending their regular Thursday lunch time sessions at Stamford Bridge to twice-weekly events at Le Meridien Hotel's swimming pool in York, as well as holding two sessions a week at New Earswick swimming pool. Each session lasts half an hour, and costs £7. Class sizes are kept to a maximum of eight and all babies are accompanied by their parents. Marjolyn said: "Some mothers are apprehensive about their child being ducked underwater, but there is nothing to fear.

"Infants naturally and automatically hold their breath underwater. It's called the mammalian dive reflex.

"In the first three months of weaning they are capable of sucking and breathing through their nose at the same time which means that if they do take in water they swallow it rather than breathe it.

"As soon as Mums see their tiny ones swimming like little joyful tadpoles underwater it fills them with delight."

The teaching technique was first introduced into Britain by Lauren Heston, whose Little Dippers school spawned many of the amazing little underwater swimmers seen in the opening titles of the BBC TV series, The Human Body.

Helen, who instructs Lucy, said: "Strangely enough, small babies are incapable of swimming on the surface of the water, but they are naturals when surrounded by it, although Lucy is terrific at floating as well as underwater kick power."

Updated: 09:15 Tuesday, November 04, 2003