He had performed the trick every week at the Germantown YMCA, a place that had become like a second home since he started going there at 6 months old, said his mother, Crystal Brunson.
"I go in the water and hold the air inside my nose and breathe out of my mouth," said Ahmere, a soft-spoken 6-year-old. "I used to be scared, but now I'm not."
For nearly a year, swimming lessons and the familial setting have been stripped from Ahmere and hundreds of other kids who frequented the Y; its doors closed after a ruptured pipe caused damage to the facilities last summer.
The contentious circumstances surrounding the building's repairs and reopening have pitted the Y's board of directors against its staff, each side blaming the other for stalling progress.
Former staff have accused the board of negligence and of hiring a restoration company to deliberately create more damage in order to file a higher insurance claim.
Board members dismiss the allegations as daft ramblings of disgruntled former employees who lost their jobs.
But while both sides point fingers, Brunson and more than 100 other parents anxiously search for local and affordable child care and recreational services for the summer.
"Now I'm scrambling to find places to take him to," Brunson said of her son.
"He asks me, 'Mommy, where am I going to swim?' and I tell him, 'Mommy doesn't know where you're going to swim at.'
"June is here, and our children have nowhere to go."
Until the situation is corrected, other programs are being held at nearby churches and schools, said Steffany Hendon, a youth-and-teen director at the Y.
Since the pipe broke during a lightning storm July 27, 2008, causing flooding, much of the red-brick building on Greene Street near Chelten Avenue has been out of use. The gym, swimming pool, racquetball court and weight room have been closed.
Minimally damaged were single-occupancy units for homeless men located on the other side of the building.
Details of how the flood occurred are clear, but accounts of what happened in the weeks following are still in dispute.
Over that weekend in July, a breakdown in the sprinkler system flooded the second floor of the fitness side of the building with several inches of water, said Curnel Bridges, the board's vice-president.
The amount of damages reached the hundreds of thousands, Bridges said, although he didn't provide a specific amount.
AIG, the insurance firm that escaped demise last year, has been slow to cover the losses, he said.
Chief Executive Officer Manuel Ayala was called in for questioning by the insurer, but initially refused, Bridges said. He said the board is waiting for AIG to make contact again.
Ayala could not be reached for comment.
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