What a year of swimming costs a Pune family
Course fees, kit, travel and the extras parents rarely count. A plain budget for one child from first lesson to confident swimmer.
The free Sunday assessment swim: what to expect
A 20-minute swim with a coach that places your child or you in the right group. What happens, what to bring and how to prepare.
Before anyone joins a course at Lahar, they come for a free assessment swim on a Sunday morning. It takes about 20 minutes in the water and helps us place each swimmer in a group where they will neither wait nor struggle. Here is what happens.
Book a slot on WhatsApp for any Sunday between 8 am and 12 noon. Arrive 15 minutes early with a swimsuit, cap, goggles and a towel; we lend caps and goggles if you forget. Children shower and change, and one parent may come to the poolside. Please bring a water bottle.
In the water, a coach asks the swimmer to do a few simple things, one at a time: walk across the shallow end, put their face in the water and blow bubbles, float on the back with help and then alone, kick holding a board, and, if they can, swim as far as they are comfortable. The coach is not looking for speed. They watch for comfort in water, breathing and whether the swimmer panics. A nervous child is never asked to do more than they want.
Afterwards, the coach tells you which group suits the swimmer and why, and shows you the available batch timings. Adults go through the same steps in a separate slot, usually with Coach Asha or Coach Nikhil. There is no obligation to book a course the same day, though summer batches tend to fill within two weeks of opening on 1 March.
