I almost drowned when I was in preschool. I actually have a pretty strong memory of that moment. My parents brought me to an outdoor swimming pool and I looked into the deep end which seemed so sparkly and inviting. Without a thought, I jumped right in. I didn’t experience any trauma, because a watchful adult at the pool saw me and promptly dove in and fished me out.
As a result, my parents enrolled me and my two siblings in swimming lessons every summer at the local pool in our town. We had to get up at 5:00 am in the morning every two weeks in order to sign up for lessons such that our three different groups were at the same time. It worked. I was invited to join a club swim team after taking lessons at Cal State Long Beach where my father taught. And it turns out, that swim coach, changed jobs to coach at Univerity of Michigan, a world-famous swimming program that routinely churned out U.S. Olympic swimmers. My business school roommate, Marc Parrish, swam for that program. He still holds the 400 Individual Medley men’s record.
As a parent of three children and knowing how tempting the bottom of a swimming pool can look, I was paranoid of swimming pools and wanted to make sure that my kids learned how to swim at an early age. And it’s not easy where we live outside of Boston. Swimming pools in the home are not common due to our long winters. The swimming lessons at the local Y.M.C.A. did not seem to resonate with my children. The water was too cold at one location. The second location with a warm pool did not seem to get my kids swimming proficiently.
I ended up putting my kids into a summer camp that was known for their swimming lessons. The facility had two pools! Even that was slow going. It wasn’t until I hired a swimming instructor for private lessons for my kids after camp that the light went on. In a single lesson, I saw my kids learn to swim!
But I digress. I do consider swimming lessons to be an essential part of physical education for children who are lucky enough to have access to a swimming pool. Not only does this prevent drowning, but it also opens up a world of water sports such as surfing, sailing, rowing, stand-up paddleboard, kayaking, and more! It’s also nice that teen swim clothes can be multifunctional for all these sports!
Swimming is also a life-long sport that can be combined with other sports for those who want to be challenged by Triathlon events! And it cannot be stressed enough that swimming doesn’t add wear and tear on the body like some high impact sports do, allowing the swimmer to be in good physical shape in old age.
Do I Even Need Swim Lessons?
Source: Tim Marshall at Unsplash
I do think everyone should learn to swim. My husband, for example, never learned to swim. He has expressed a desire to learn, but it hasn’t happened yet. Since his sport of choice is golf, swimming isn’t a necessity but I do worry when we are on the water. He claims that he can dog paddle so he won’t drown, but I do still worry since The World Health Organisation drowning statistic numbers are sobering. It is reported that roughly 236 000 people die annually due to drowning or drowning-related incidents.
Among those at most risk of drowning are children. Drowning is now one of the 5 main leading causes of fatalities in children aged 1 to 15. A vital part of the prevention for drowning incidents are swim lessons and teaching children to swim.
Swimming is also a healthy hobby. It is the perfect sport with health benefits while also being fun.
Source: Porapak A. at Pexels
There are two main types of lessons; group and private swim lessons: group lessons and private lessons. With my children, I didn’t have luck with group lessons to teach them the rudimentary skills of swimming, but group lessons are great once they can swim and want to improve their swimming skills. After all, a swim team is essentially a group lesson!
Private lessons are more expensive than group lessons but if it gets kids swimming proficiently quickly, it can actually be less expensive than taking lots of group lessons with no progress.
Private swim lessons can be tailored for that “a-ha” moment when a child suddenly makes that breakthrough and learns not to be afraid of … the water … or putting his or her head underwater … or learning to breathe by turning his or her head … and finally is actually swimming correctly.
Meanwhile, group lessons create this “death by a thousand cuts” situation, where the progress is much smaller, and you will have to take lessons for much longer than you would have with private ones. Another thing to point out about the different types of swim lessons is the fact that they can differ in length and different in things being taught.
My middle daughter, PickyKidPix, has decided to train for a triathlon in college. I was shocked at first because she’s not a great swimmer. But her team is providing swimming instruction as part of their training and she’s making great progress in the pool by swimming several hours a week.
Where Do I Start With Swim Lessons?
Source: MarcTutorial at Pexels
Finding excellent swim lessons and swimming instructors is part of a mother’s work that is never done. Asking other moms is always helpful. There are also other resources such as InstaSwim to find convenient and affordable swim lessons. Not only do they provide top-notch, high-quality private swim lessons, but they take away all the hassle that can come with booking swim lessons.
How about you? What was your journey to learning to swim? Was it easy to teach your loved ones to swim? Thanks for sharing!
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
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