Last Updated on 7 July 2020 by Colette
From the start, learning to swim was always a non-negotiable for us. Whatever clubs the kids wanted to do or skills the wanted to learn – making sure they could swim was a top priority, both for our time and our money.
I always loved the idea of baby swimming lessons but, at the time, they were beyond our budget. I chose to take a full year maternity leave with Ben which meant some serious tightening of the belts and by the time we has Chloe we had two lots of full time childcare to consider so had to be even more careful. As such swimming lessons had to wait until they were both a little older.
Ben and Chloe both started swimming shortly after their third birthdays at the local leisure centre – I don’t think it ever occurred to me that there was any other option for them. I remember they were both the youngest children there and they looked so tiny, shivering at the side of the pool. They both continued learning to swim at the local baths till Year 4 when they were in ‘Blue hats’ and were competent, confident swimmers. At this point I moved them from their council run lessons to a local swimming club where they swim for twice as long in a session and the atmosphere is one of encouragement and competition rather than feeling shouted at all the time. They now swim for a couple of hours a week.
Amy’s swimming experience has been entirely different. She was fortunate enough to start swimming with Puddle Ducks shortly before her second birthday and has been swimming with them now for nearly four and a half years and we couldn’t love her lessons or the Puddle Ducks / Swim Academy teachers more. Starting younger, and in such a supportive and progressive atmosphere, means Amy has had a huge head start on her siblings.
All three children know that they don’t have a choice about learning to swim, it’s just something we expect them to do – learning to swim as an adult just wasn’t going to be happening for them.
6 reasons why we want our children to be able to swim!
1. Safety
Primarily, making sure our children learn to swim has always been about safety. Whilst we all know that water can be lots of fun, it’s important to have a healthy respect for the dangers – drowning is one of the most common causes of accidental death – and as such, being able to swim confidently is about safety for us first and foremost. (Amy does regular personal survival skills sessions in her PJs at Swim Academy!)
2. Fun
And of course, second to being safe around water, having fun is next on the list of reasons why learning to swim is so important! From Saturday morning family swims to poolside holidays and water slides as well as a wide range of sports, being able to swim confidently and enjoy the water is invaluable.
3. Confidence
This isn’t just about developing confidence in the pool or around water, but actually I’m talking about developing confidence in a wider sense. The confidence of knowing that they can learn a new skill, that they can push past their fears and anxieties around leaning to swim or trying something different and that they have the resilience to keep trying when things are hard. These skills are all practiced and developed in the swimming pool but which transfer into the rest of our children’s lives.
4. Physical Activity
Regular exercise is a fairly obvious benefit of taking your child to swimming lessons. We all know that swimming is a great all round exercise which improves strength and flexibility, increase stamina and can even improve balance and posture. Who wouldn’t want that for their child (or themselves for that matter!)
5. Routine
Whilst Dave and I can both swim confidently, and enjoy taking the children swimming as a family (particularly to a water park!), without the weekly structure of swimming lessons, it’s something we’re not very good at getting round to! Knowing that we have Swim Academy sessions booked for Amy, or club training for Ben and Chloe, means we know they are all going to be in the pool at least once a week, benefiting from that exercise and developing their skills.
6. Wider opportunities
Being confident swimmers opens up other sports and activities such as surfing or diving that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do!
Learning to swim is a skill for life
I’m so glad that we started swimming lessons relatively young for our children, I think it becomes more daunting the older you get. (I say this having taken Year 5 & 6 children to school swimming lessons when they had never been in the water before). My friend Donna didn’t learn to swim until adulthood and you can read about the impact this had on her here.
Learning to swim is a lifelong skill, something we know they will continue to benefit from for the rest of their lives – and much as I hate sitting poolside for hours a week, it’s a worthwhile investment!
Click here to read about Amy’s swimming journey so far
Amy swims with Swim Academy Greater Manchester free of charge for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions remain our own.
