I'm a swimming teacher

[Starlitestarbright]

Hi feel free to ask me any questions. I teach learn to swim 3 upwards and school swimming.

Jemimaduck8 sounds like she's just on her tip toes she will be fine though!

CloseEncountersOfTheTurdKind
Could you bring her inbetween the classes and work on her back?

My daughter is a very strong swimmer, and would love to train to be a lifeguard, however she wears glasses with a string prescription. Obviously she couldn't dive into rescue somebody wearing her glasses, do you know of any lifeguards that need a strong prescription and is there any way round this? She swims with prescription goggles, but I don't think she could wear those all the time on the side of a pool.

This is a random question but can children inherit swimming ability? DB was/is a very good swimmer and was often invited by coaches to join teams. He wasn't interested as didn't want the commitment but clearly had natural talent as he would easily win local galas despite not training. One of his dc took to swimming like a fish & to my uneducated eye seems very strong for a 5 yr old so just wondering if it's genetic.

Snowdropsarelovely

I couldn't say really as I don't really deal with the lifeguards. Maybe contacts.

footstoop it's like any sport really others can take to it more naturally than some. You can have a family of swimmers because they take their dc from a young age but having one good swimmer doesn't always mean the rest of the family will be strong either. You can really see if a child will be a strong swimmer with potential about the age of 8 I would say. My dd just got into the the feeder club for the next level club she's 9. She swims 3 times a week. My eldest is very splashy swimmer no refined technique could do afew lengths.

Hi
My daughter is in Year 4 and will be going swimming with school in September. I really want her to improve before then. She’s a good swimmer for her age I imagine but she needs to improve her stamina. The weekly swimming lessons focuses on technique it seems. I try to take her swimming in addition to lessons, probably manage once a month. She just seems to get tired so easily but gets upset when I try and help her!

1AngelicFruitCake

Technique is so important. Better to be swimming a short distance and working on technique such as breathing every three doing say 10metres or 25metres than 50 metres of poor quality technique where a swimmer is stuggling. Its a case of quality over quantity. What stage is she currently at? What is her current distance she's swimming?

@Starlitestarbright thank you

Thanks. They have been doing Swimkidz rather than Water Babies. Not sure how those two companies compare?

What would you say is a good level for a 7 year old?

runforyourdog depends on what age they started my ds is almost 7 cannot swim but I take him he has asd struggles in group lessons. I teach children that are 7 that cannot swim or in stage 2 and I have 7 year olds in stage 4,5,6 and 7. I don't base it on age but on ability. I'd say don't fixate on the age but that they are progressing.

How long should it take go work through the stages? My son started swimming when he was 7.5 but is now almost 10 and still on level 3 and hasn't moved classes for at least a year. I feel like he must have stopped making any progress.

Thanks, DD is 7 and is in stage 7 so sounds like she's doing pretty well.

DS has just turned 6 and is in stage 3, has been for a while. He actually seems pretty good at swimming when we take him but he just doesn't listen and spends most of his time with his head under the water! Any suggestions what we could do or is it just something that comes when they are a bit older?

Litwicklettuce there's no time frame for learning to swim. It does take several years to be able to swim well but depends on the child. My dd started at 4 she's 9 now, she finished stage 5 about 8 years old. She went to a club and she's now in the next club up. Obviously covids will have impacted childrens progression. I'm guessing there stage 3 is like mine in that your having to swim 10 metres on your front and on your back in the main pool. They have to be safe before moving up. I'd definitely ask the teacher.

runforyourdog you need to have a stern word with him. He won't progress if he doesn't listen especially if hes heads under the water, its quite bad manners really. I have a stage 3 class that bad for this and I put them on the side everytime. I've told they need to listen if they wish to progress further and they seem to be the only class that doesn't listen. It's seemed to make a difference as alot of parents apologised and told the children they need to listen if they want to get to stage 4.

It's a private pool so I can't take her to practice unfortunately, but we go to the gym pool once a week anyway.

Yes at one end of the pool she can go on tiptoes, but not at the other. Treading water for the full lesson seems unnecessary but I guess I'm worrying too much! 🙃
(& if I say something she may end up as the only one having to use a float / noodle which would be embarrassing for her 😳)

I’m not sure of the stage as she is having private lessons in a mixed ability group and doesn’t seem to get any badges/certificates! She seems to have a good technique but doesn’t get as far as I’d expect! She’s grown in confidence but as she’s in year 4, not 9 until June so perhaps I’m expecting too much!

1AngelicFruitCake the kids should all be at the same level and she should be getting awards for distance. I'd move her personally.

DS2 was a great swimmer. He completed his mile badge aged seven and then wanted to stop. A real shame really because I watched him compete in a few competitions and found it far more exciting than watching him him playing football!
Is it your favourite sport to watch at the Olympics?

Since you've been so helpful on my thread about DD I am taking a plunge here to ask about adult swimming😁i can't swim at all and find it really uncomfortable to get water on my face, I hate it even when i get splashed unexpectedly in the pool. I grew up in a country with no funded swimming through school and raised by single mum who was scared of water all her life. Age 18 I took swimming lessons but didn't get far, it was beginners class but there was no one else in my group who really couldn't swim at all. I am quite anxious person but I am working on it, I've had therapy and medication and it changed my life dramatically for the better. I am thinking now about trying to learn swimming again. At the moment I rarely join my kids at the pool because I don't want to pass my anxieties onto them like my poor mum did. And when I do go or we're at the seaside for example I keep having visions of my kids drowning and me standing there helpless, unable to.help them. Do you think there's hope for me? Would group lessons be fine or will I need 1-2-1 with shrink in the water by my side😜Oh and I'm 40 by the way x

cptartapp some children seem to gey ti a certain standard then want to stop that's fine. I watch sometimes. Depends where and when it's on as of the swimming was on late into the night.

alizee21g sounds like you would benefit from 121 adult lessons instead of group lessons. It's never too late to learn.

What should I be doing with ds when we go swimming? He doesn’t wear armbands or anything but loves splashing, being moved around the pool and playing with the pool toys. He also loves being sat on the edge and ‘jumping’ in. He is 18 months old.
We tried swimming lessons when he was much younger (under 6 months) but he hated it so we only did a couple of terms as it felt awful to put him through it when he obviously wasn’t enjoying it.

My dd has been swimming for two terms. She can't swim- she can swim with a noodle. 'swim'.
They've had a different teacher each week to the past few months. Some weeks using noodles, some arm bands, sometimes those circular foam arm bands. Last week they had to use floats but no one has shown them how to use a float yet, I think the teacher assumed, I watched my daughter struggle and then cry... The teacher didn't notice and then they all moved on to the next thing. I actually think she is getting worse at swimming... Should I try elsewhere or are my expectations too high for a pre school class ?

Try elsewhere, that sounds rubbish. We have been to Waterbabies and two local authority pools, and they were all better than that.

StopGrowingPlease at 18 months just let him play bring some toys and. Noddle and hold it whilst he kids. He's still only little.

Teafor1please is this a duckling class. If the pool depth is 0.80metres and they can stood up they don't need armbands. Armbands affect buoyancy. Children need to learn to find there own body position in the water. Listens sound very chaotic I'd defintely speak to the centre first see if you can move to a class with a more consistent teacher and then if you get no joy go elsewhere.

@Starlitestarbright

My son is 6 and in stage 2 swimming lesson. The pool is cold and he's shivering and complaining quite a bit.

He wears a sun protected/all in one outfit and a swim top, over the top.

Can he wear a wetsuit instead?