Dad and two sons make video to get people smiling

What do you do when all of the swimming pools have closed because of COVID-19?

You get creative, of course.

For 13-year-old Jaden Melton, that meant taking a swim in his dad’s fish tank.

I just thought, why not, we have a pretty big fish tank and I could probably fit in there.” - Jaden Melton, 13

The teen, who lives in Okotoks, Alta, is used to swimming seven to eight times a week with his swim team, the Okotoks Mavericks.

Unfortunately, though, all of Jaden’s swim meets and practices were cancelled because of the coronavirus.

“We were all really sad, cause champs and nationals were all coming up,” Jaden told CBC Kids News.

That’s when Jaden’s dad, Todd Melton, who is also the swim club’s head coach, put out a challenge to the team to see who “missed swimming the most.”

Jude Melton, left, Todd Melton and Jaden Melton filmed their video in ‘about five minutes’ after preparing what they were going to say beforehand. (Submitted by Todd Melton)

He asked them to share videos of themselves doing the challenge on their team’s Facebook group chat.

One team member posted a clip of swimming in the snow with a swimsuit on.

Another shared a video of swimming on a table with their head in a bucket of water, to practise breathing.

Then Jaden’s dad pitched an idea to his son: to jump into the fish tank

“I just thought, why not, we have a pretty big fish tank and I could probably fit in there,” said Jaden.

After cleaning and draining the fish tank, Todd helped Jaden get into the tank while Jaden’s younger brother Jude, 10, filmed the video.

Todd later posted the video on Facebook, along with a list of precautions they took to make sure the fish were safe during the video.

This included cleaning the tank and having Jaden shower both before and after the dip.

According to Jaden, the fish are now “doing great.”

“Most of the reactions were: ‘This is so funny, we’re making light of a difficult situation,’ ” he said.

He said that “unless someone does something more amazing,” it’s a safe bet that he’s won the competition.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said that Jaden lives in Lethbridge, Alta. He actually lives in Okotoks, Alta.