Learning to swim as an adult
Why it feels harder than it did for your children, and how we make it easier.
Getting a nervous child into the water
What we do in the first three classes, and how you can help at home.
Many children arrive on the first day holding a parent’s hand very tightly. That is normal, and the first class is never about swimming. It is about sitting on the edge, splashing with the feet and getting used to the sound and smell of the pool.
In the second class the coach brings the child into the shallow end, holding both hands. We play games that put water on the face: pouring from a cup, blowing bubbles, picking up rings from the steps. Children who laugh in the water are halfway there.
By the third class most children are floating on their back with the coach’s hand under their head. We never let go without saying so, and never take a child to deep water until they ask.
At home, bath time helps. Let your child pour water over their own head, blow bubbles in the bucket and practise lying back. Talk about the pool as a fun place, not a test. And when you watch from the gallery, wave and smile, even when they cling to the coach. They notice.
