Last Updated on 19 December 2024 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
Amy has been back in the pool now for just over a month and she’s absolutely loving it.
Whist neither of us particularly missed the mad dash up to Aqua Nurture after school, getting dressed with damp bodies after swimming (easily my least favourite bit) or the hair washing – what we did really miss was her Swim Academy teachers, and actually being in the pool.
Getting back to swimming after Lockdown
Getting back to our Swim Academy lessons at Aqua Nurture after Lockdown meant getting to grips with some changes – some changes which we hadn’t expected and some which are now common place through society to keep us as a safe as possible such as regular hand sanitising, face coverings and social distancing.
Covid Secure Swimming Lessons at Aqua Nuture
Anyone who knows Gary and Suzanne will know just how passionate they are about their business – about Puddle Ducks, about Swim Academy and about Aqua Nurture – but more than that, it’s clear how much their team and customers matter to them. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that they would have done absolutely everything they could to ensure Covid security both at Aqua Nurture and their Puddle Ducks Greater Manchester venues.
Ahead of Amy’s first Swim Academy lesson back at Aqua Nurture, we were sent a long document detailing all the changes that had been made and how these would impact Amy’s lessons. The document itself felt quite overwhelming at first but once we were actually there and doing it, it was all quite obvious and extremely well managed.
So what has changed?
The Aqua Nurture café and pool area now have separate entrances – for coffee and cake you enter through the front door, for swimming lessons you enter through the side door and straight into a new “dry changing area”.
You are asked to arrive at Aqua Nurture “beach ready” – so basically with your swim gear on under your clothes to make getting ready for your lesson as quick as possible (and also because the new dry changing area doesn’t offer any privacy!) Don’t forget your underwear for afterwards – we’ve all been there!
Shortly before your lesson, you are taken through to the poolside (the previous lesson has finished and these customers are already in the wet changing rooms to avoid cross over). You leave your kit poolside (so keeping it all in one big bag is easiest).
Once the lesson is over, you move straight to the wet changing rooms to get dressed again – showers are not currently available. The changing rooms and toilets are cleaned between lessons with a disinfectant fogging machine so it’s really important that strict timings are adhered to allow for this to happen.
As per current government guidelines, face coverings are required at all times in the building (except in the pool obviously – that would be ridiculous!) And, due to social distancing guidelines and the new layouts within the building, no spectators are allowed for Puddle Ducks or Swim Academy lessons (except Level 3 and 4 swimmers who are allowed one carer pool side).
No teachers in the pool!
The biggest Covid related change to Amy’s Stage 2 Swim Academy lessons is that she now has to have a parent in the pool with her again as, due to STA guidance, teachers must teach from poolside. This makes total sense as her swimming teachers would obviously usually have physical contact with up to 8 children in every lesson. For now, the numbers of children in classes have been reduced and parents are required to support their swimmers in the water instead.
I was a little worried about how Amy would take to this as she hasn’t had a parent in the pool with her for a couple of years now, since she made the move to Swim Academy shortly after her 5th birthday. I worried she would take advantage of us being less skilled than her teachers and maybe not try as hard, or that we would struggle to support her effectively – however, just a month in her teacher has told her she is planning to assess her to move up to Level 3 later this week! (I checked her Puddle Ducks profile and I’d say it’s pretty much a done deal but don’t tell Amy!)
And the biggest change of all . . .
Right before Amy was due to start back at swimming, we received an email from the team at Puddle Ducks Greater Manchester to say that Amy would be having a change of teacher. Claire, who has taught Amy for almost the entirety of her Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy journey wouldn’t be teaching her when we returned to the pool. Amy was understandably upset about this – she’d really missed Claire during Lockdown and was super excited to get back in the pool with her. She was sad that we hadn’t had a chance to say thank you or see you later. Luckily, Amy’s lesson is now taught by Georgia who has been working alongside Claire teaching Amy’s lessons for months now – so whilst it has been a big change for her, her teacher is still someone familiar, someone who already knows what Amy can do and how to push her and Amy has settled into her new sessions well!
So, getting back in the pool after months of Lockdown; with new routines and a new teacher could have been a nightmare but Amy has, if you’ll pardon the pun, taken to it like a Puddle Duck to water and I can’t wait to see what the move to Stage 3 has to offer her!
Follow our full Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy journey here!
Amy swims with Puddle Ducks Greater Manchester free of charge for the purposes of review however all thoughts and opinions remain our own
