Food/diet advice

[Andara Bledin]

(Note of interest: sidestroke is a good rescue stroke. Instead of using both hands to propel, your upper hand holds your rescuee's head out of the water while you move the pair of you to safety.)

Sidestroke is also excellent for when you're starting to get fatigued.

I used to do a lot of swimming under yellow flag conditions at the beach when I was a youngster, and if I got stuck out past the breakers for long enough to get tired, I'd resort to sidestroke to get me back to shore. It would also keep my legs closer to the surface, so I'd get less pull from undertows.

^-.-^

[Seshat]

Agreed.

If Eisa (the OP) was planning to spend time in the ocean, at wave pools, or out in the middle of lakes, I'd recommend learning multiple floats for different types of rest, and Australian Crawl for efficient travel-distance-per-effort-expended. And breaststroke for an effective and efficient above/underwater swimming stroke.

But in a hydrotherapy pool, something that will get her to the edge and keep her head out of water is likely to be the most confidence-boosting. (And hey, Eisa, once you have that confidence, maybe you'll want to learn other types of swimming strokes.)