Why can’t everyone swim???

[GorgeousFox]

Am interested in understanding what is stopping children from learning to swim? Is it the cost, lack of facilities, time constraints, something else?????

First time I ever went in a swimming pool as a child I came out in a horribly itchy rash. Turns out chlorine gives me dermatitis so I’ve never learned to swim. Am now 55 and probably never will.

I'm not sure if our local pool is open anymore actually.

My eldest two had swimming lessons for a while but once they could swim they rapidly lost interest. They have never been swimming as adults.

My youngest doesn't like water in his face and has a real fear. We are just about able to get him to paddle right at the edge of the water at the beach but he doesn't enjoy it.

also where I live the council closed down the easily accessible town centre leisure centre and built a new one out of town, with no public transport links, which probably doesn't help because it's not easy to get to at all

It's immensely expensive, especially if you have a child who is nervous, stubborn, or for any other reason progresses slowly. My DS (age nearly 6) has half hour one instructor to two student lessons and has had for a year and a half. Still can't really float, let alone anything else, and I'm probably close to £1000 down.

Made massively more difficult by the fact that pools were shut for so long during covid he started too old and wasn't water familiar the way his older brother was when he stared lessons.

Because not everyone can afford swimming lessons? Ever thought of that?

Cost, lack of local leisure centres so need to travel, school lessons often too late and too big a class so they can't learn. Taking kids yourself becomes impossible as soon as you have more than 1 because most council pools need 1 adult per child under a certain age then 1 adult to 2 children. For a while dh and i couldn't even take our 3 dc together as the 3yr old and baby needed to be 1:1 but we had the 5 year old too! So it was impossible.

Time, money, waiting lists, DTDs are starting swimming this term at 7 wheras older siblings started at 5. We do swim for fun as a family and they've done a crash course as was available.

I think councils could do more to encourage people to use pools perhaps have a free afternoon or evening a week for those that are struggling to afford it.

In an ideal world first aid/CPR, swimming, cycling and driving would all be mandatory subjects at school, as part of the national curriculum.

Meanwhile education ministers bimble around changing how exams work, rather than saying, "Over the next 15 years we'll ensure every child can drive, cycle, swim, and save lives".

I take my 2 kids to swimming lessons but I know many don't because
Long waiting lists for spaces
Cost- when you're struggling to buy food you can't afford swimming.
Time a lot of the lessons that do have spaces are after school when parents are still at work and kids in after-school clubs or with childminders.
Priority For what we spend per year on lessons (council pool) we could have a holiday instead.
Our nearest pool closed so the one we use is a 30 min drive away and a much longer journey on public transport.
My kids school haven't done swimming since COVID so kids aren't learning via school.

I'd desperately love my DC to be able to swim but there are no spaces in lessons near us at a time when I'm either not working or they aren't committed to other clubs already. None of us can be in 2 places at once.

Swimming not seen as a "sport" in PE at school and as above with transport costs
I had swimming lessons at school - my bog standard primary even had a pool! I didn't actually learn to swim until I was an almost adult and my parents could afford to pay for lessons (neither of them can swim). Teaching swimming is a skilled job and I guess a lot of people can't afford it.

I can’t swim. My parents didn’t send me to lessons as a child. dm can swim but dad can’t. I tried to learn when I was a bit older a few times but I just couldn’t get it. I wish I could so I could take my dd. I will sign her up for lessons when she’s old enough.

It's not part of the culture in England? England is extremely adult-centric when compared to other G20 nations.

If there were more age targeted facilities evenly spread across the country for children and young people for easy access to a long lasting and healthy lifestyle/outlet, I can't help but think obesity, drugs/county lines and mental health wouldn't be the massive problem it is.

I'd agree with this I have 4 for years we couldn't take them to a council run pool together as twins would require an adult each. I did find a local, little, warm pool at a local holiday park where I could take them. It was actually cheaper than council pool and considerably warmer. Small and a bit boring now though apparently.

Cost and opportunity.

As much as I want my daughter to learn how to swim, I'm not taking her down the local sewage dump river to learn. The cost of private lessons is impossible, the cost of just taking her too the pool once a month is unmanageable and we would need to go more often than that for me to teach her.

I hate that she can't swim, but pretty certain that swimming doesn't trump being fed and having a roof over your head.

I went swimming with school every week from aged 5 to aged 10. Every week. My kids are at the same primary school I went to and they go weekly for one term in year 4. That's it.

Fortunately I've been able to pay for private lessons.

Not everyone can.

This is it for me

Waiting lists are very long.

Even if you manage to get a place, you invariably have to switch to a different time slot each time your child moves up a level. If you have other commitments it can be very difficult to work around them.

Open swimming sessions have also been cut back, which limits the opportunities for parents to teach children themselves.

Where I am 2 of the local primaries are part of a community campus so have their own pool which is reserved for kids use at certain hours, then swimming lessons, then open to public rest of the time which I think works.

Lessons aren't overly expensive here £22 a month which includes unlimited swimming. Waiting lists are really long due to covid backlog though.

Moved out of London to seaside town. In London borough I was in there was swimming for free swimming for children and because I was on tax credits I paid only £1.30 for myself. It was one of the cheapest things to do under cover and I took DS LOADS when he was under 5 so he taught himself to swim.
Here there are no discounts its £7.50 for one adult to take one child, ratios of 2 children per adult enforced. DS goes to really deprived school and many of the children couldn't swim when the school started lessons in year 5- not surprising really but I find it very depressing that they didn't have the opportunity. The council is investing millions in a new swimming pool- its in the posh village 3 miles away rather than the town where there is the most deprivation :-(

I had swimming lessons at primary school. Back in the 1960s. I was already a confident swimmer as my parents had taken me to lessons when I was younger.

I don’t know many people who can’t swim.

My daughters autistic and would need
specialist lessons as she wouldn’t be able to attend regular swimming
lessons and I can’t afford it, hope that’s an ok reason?

I had a few lessons with the rest of my class at school but never overcame my fear of the water. I still fear going out of my depth. My parents never prioritised swimming. Still can't swim but my dch can because DP taught them.

Children get swimming lessons at school now, and have done for at least the last 20 years as far as I know.

Yes. My dc got a lesson a week for one term. Marvellous.

My now retired boss can't swim and has no desire to learn

My understanding is that lots of schools by the seaside have got their own swimming pools so that the children are safer when playing on the beach.