Incident has put me off the job

It's the sort of thing I would dwell on too but you did your job correctly. It's very hard when there are such little ones in Stage 1 and 2 - I think there should be a height limit for group lessons or else the really little ones are in a group together. My child started slightly later (as in nearly 6 rather than 4) and the lessons were frustrating to watch and pay for because the just turned 4 year olds needed an awful lot of 1:1 support. I wouldn't put a child in group lessons who couldn't properly stand up in the pool.

No it's a reminder of why we need to teach our children to swim!. My son had a scary incident in his swimming lesson. The life guard had to throw a bouancy aid in. He was hysterical. Had to come put of the lesson. He has nightmares and refused to swim again.
But I calmly explained this is the exact reason why I insist he learns to swim!. He was dripped down a group ( back to the shallow end) I also took him swimming they weekend. It's the parents responsibility to help the child over come it. My sons now an amazing swimmer.

I'd have thought it more important he did a swimming lesson afterwards. Maybe the parents are taking him. Don't take this personally. The child wasn't in any danger and shows how important swimming lessons are. Keep teaching this life skill x

Nah the parents are being ridiculous. Just compounding his slight dunking.

Forget it like he would have done if they had carried on with lessons.

It sounds like you have a relatively large class with a range of capabilities. If I was the parent I would have also probably cancelled, not down to you as an individual but due to realising that larger class sizes are not suitable for such early stages.

My daughter was one of 12 in her first swim sessions post Covid. It just wasn’t working after two terms and I cancelled. I taught her myself until we could get in with another company who has a maximum of 4 to a group at that stage, and rises to a maximum of 5 in later stages

You did nothing wrong.

I haven’t thought about swimming lessons for a long time and I’m surprised you are expected to manage confident, non confident and complete non swimmers alone. It’s a lot to expect you to be close to all the less able swimmers all the time.

What happened to parents teaching their children to swim? At least until they are able to swim a width. That used to be basic parenting.

It must have felt scary, but I don't expect it will be the first or the last time it's happened in the pool. It really is the reason it is so important to be able to swim. The best thing for the child would've been to get straight back in, otherwise the fear is going to continue to build up. Nothing you can do now, just continue to work and learn and try to enjoy what you do. There will always be ones that come and go in this sort of role.

What have the parents or the kid done to deserve this? OP didn't say they had a go at her or blamed her. He's not coming back to swimming, at least not currently, none of us know long term and none of us know enough about the child to know if this is an unreasonable decision or not.

My brother fell off a jetty as a little kid when he couldn't swim properly and went under briefly before our dad grabbed him, it took him a long time, but he did learn to swim a couple years later and it had no long term consequences. He does remember it, but isn't bothered by it at all. I actually fell in fully clothed at 5 years old when my parents were at work, not sure where the babysitter was. I was a strong swimmer, but it was a real struggle with the weight of my clothes and no adult nearby. I was really scared but I managed to get myself out and it never stopped me getting back in the water.

It's unfortunate OP, but my major concern would be if the classes are structured in a way that makes this more likely or if it was just an unfortunate accident. In the end the child is ok, and may well come back to swimming at some stage and although it is an important skill it's not the end of the world if they don't.

I think he's very likely to be young enough not remember anything about it once he's an adult.

Precious kid, precious parents.
Be thankful you're not his class teacher
It's human nature to dwell on the one bad thing, so think of all the children you're helping and don't take it personally

I know MN generally haaaates when posters say this sort of thing but I speak from experience here.
My DC is autistic and the tiniest, sometimes ridiculous things can put her off something for life (or the foreseeable). However it is always something that is not a given to occur every time. For example, when she began taking painkiller pills instead of Calpol she did great, no issues whatsoever. Then a year later, had one which didn't go down and that was it! No pills ever again.
Same with food, can try a new food type and like it for ages, years even. Then one time she'll have one which got a bit overcooked and that's it, never again. Despite the fact that she knows full well that it can be avoided, it's still written off.
So perhaps that was the case with the DC you were teaching? Was he Autistic?
I do realise that if he was and my theory is correct, that it would still mean he's not wanting to swim BUT it would mean that it was less about it being traumatising and more so about how he's processed it himself.
Anyway, regardless of neurodiversities, most if not all children at that age struggle to process their emotions & regulate their reactions to things that scare them. He'll likely have forgotten all about it by tomorrow....

If that were my dc I definitely wouldn't have stopped lessons, I feel like that will cement his fear. I've watched hundreds of swimming lessons and definitely seen the kind of incident you describe with pretty much zero consequence. You need to shake it off, it wasn't your fault.

It sounds like this was an upsetting incident for you, and that you keep going over it and the child's subsequent refusal to continue lessons will have added to the impact it has had on you. It really does sound like you did all the right things, so rather than let this put you off a job you otherwise seem to enjoy, why not book a couple of sessions with a counsellor to talk through your feelings about the incident, and to help you reframe it in your mind? Rather than thinking about the incident as a "near miss", you should start to think of it as a "good save" - I know if I were the child's parent, I would be grateful you had done what you did.

I don't think you did anything wrong, you were within easy reach, you pulled him back up straight away and he was ok, although it shook him up. He'll have lost confidence for now but I'm sure it won't stop him for long.

My daughter was playing in a large paddling pool when she was little and went under. I grabbed her straight away and she was shocked but it hasn't stopped her from loving the pool - she's 14 now and we go swimming every week.

In my opinion you did everything right, you reported it and got parent to poolside to let them know. I wouldn't let this spoil your enjoyment of your job.