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Original poster

At what age did you start your child doing swimming lessons?

78 replies

CarlaTheGnome · 27/02/2023 18:07

And what form did the lessons take? Was it a block of classes or an ongoing PAYG type thing, did you have to get in the pool with them, did you just keep going until they got to a certain stage (could do a length alone etc.), was it 1-2-1 or a bigger group? I'm doing some research for DS (age 4) who has almost no experience at all and need all the advice I can get!

OP posts:
reluctantbrit · 27/02/2023 18:36

Sorry, started on groups of 9 with 3 instructors in the water.

Nuffaluff · 27/02/2023 18:38

Aged 7. Until then we just took them for fun. A really good age to start as they both took to it straight away, learned to swim without a float within a couple of lessons and had the coordination to pick up the different strokes.

2bazookas · 27/02/2023 18:46

Pre-school. We took them to "parent and toddler" swimming class; every child had to have a parent in the pool with them at all times. The teacher was great; the kids were all swimming within weeks.

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Favouritefruits · 27/02/2023 18:52

My first was four when he started structured lessons but I took him to the local pool every week before that. My second son started at 18months we went to a class but I had to get in the water as well, he’s now 5 and swims without armbands.

TotallyFloored · 27/02/2023 18:54

My youngest swims alone at 3. She started earlier this year I think.

edwinbear · 27/02/2023 19:33

Both mine started as babies, with parents in the water via the council lessons/pool. At that age, it was really just a fun activity for both of us (I’m a swimmer), but they both enjoyed it, and at 13 & 11 now compete. If they’d not enjoyed it and wanted to stop, I’d have asked them to continue until they could do an easy 50-100m for their general safety.

CoodleMoodle · 27/02/2023 19:41

DD started in Sept 2020, when she was 6. She's now 9 and is very confident, just working on her stamina. DS is 4.5 and started Sept 2022, just after he started school. At our swim school you have to get in with them until they're 4 and I didn't want to do that so we waited. He loves it, and is slowly getting there.

There's two small pools separated by a wall, with two classes in each at once (rope down the middle). Max class size is three kids. It's brilliant! £13 per 30min lesson.

UsingChangeofName · 27/02/2023 19:57

Lessons from aged 4, but mine had them with a local swimming club rather than the Council lessons.
The teens from the club used to get in the water with the littlies - so there was a teacher on the side and one or two teens in the water with them.
We just paid each month, ongoing.

We'd taken them fairly regularly from when they were babies though, and were used to going to the pool, jumping in, getting splashed and so forth.

TheNyx · 27/02/2023 19:59

From 6 weeks old in blocks of classes at a warm water no chlorine baby pool

She's now 19 months and swims mostly independently

Original poster
CarlaTheGnome · 27/02/2023 20:01

Amazing, thanks everyone - am learning a lot here! Did everyone have to sort lessons out themselves rather than it being offered through primary school?

OP posts:
YukoandHiro · 27/02/2023 20:01

Just turned 5 and she also had no water experience. We've been going once a week since September with some breaks due to illness, plus Xmas hols etc. Her water confidence is great now but she's not actually able to do much swimming yet. Think it's going to take a while...

YukoandHiro · 27/02/2023 20:01

Oh yes block of classes pay for a term a time (three terms a year, so sept-Xmas, Xmas-Easter)

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 27/02/2023 20:03

DS1 when he started school in reception as the school had a pool

DS2 when he was just turning 3 as he started in the pre nursery room at the same school.

They did go to a few free swims at the local pool before this but only a handful of times.

They're 9 and 11 now and are both confident swimmers

YoComoManzanas · 27/02/2023 20:11

Ds1 had waterbaby classes from about 4months old. He loved the water but hated being dunked under which they had us do every time. He then started proper group block lessons age 4.5yo. Complete waste of money. He hated having his face in the water until he was about 7yo.
He's age 8 now and despite having group swim lessons since 4.5yo (with a year's covid gap) he actually learnt to swim on a week's holiday with us last year, and then properly on the free school sessions they have in year4.
Ds2 is 6yo. We just took him to leisure pool sessions as a baby. He started swim school age 3.5yo and progressed a bit quicker than ds1. He would put his face in the water fairly happily. Still seems they like to rinse you of money, keeping him in each stage for 6months when school taught ds1 to swim 25m in 2months. So I would suggest taking your dc on holiday for a week in a pool before starting formal lessons.

TheNoodlesIncident · 27/02/2023 20:11

DS was age five, as he wasn't really taking in instructions much before that. He was taught 1:1 by his 1:1 from school, the teacher knew him inside out and could tailor the lessons to how DS was doing on that particular day/hour/minute...

He did learn well albeit slowly with lots of games and interaction, but he was very water confident as he'd been in pools from a very young age and was happy to jump in deep water, have it go over his head, etc. After that when he was more competent he joined a swim school to be in a small class with other kids.

He's now 14 and in a swimming club and gets a lot of enjoyment out of swimming (especially in the sea) so the time and expense has been worth it.

Get your dc decent goggles, it makes such a difference between able to see the beauty of underwater without leaks!

GiltEdges · 27/02/2023 20:27

Age 4. Small group (6 kids). Instructor in the po with them, but parents are required to leave the pool area for the direction of the (half hour) lesson, then collect poolside at the end. We pay in blocks of 10 lessons.

Gymmum82 · 27/02/2023 20:31

Birth pretty much for both. Lessons from a couple of months for the eldest. Couple of weeks for the youngest because we did them at the same time as her sister. Long gap due to Covid for the youngest. Eldest has now finished all stages so doesn’t have lessons anymore now aged 8

BigMacAttack · 27/02/2023 20:33

Age 3. Private lessons. Pay monthly. Term time only. Once a week. 30mins.

BigMacAttack · 27/02/2023 20:33

Instructor in the pool.

MarshaBradyo · 27/02/2023 20:35

We took them swimming a lot then started lessons age 4

Phos · 27/02/2023 20:51

Well we started doing the baby classes but we noticed she was without fail really unsettled after them so we canned them.

Started formal lessons when she was 4, this would have been late 2021, early 2022 and they were still being weird about covid rules. Whether it was that or something else I don't know but after getting her stage 1, which they gave her very reluctantly, she started crying every time we went so I pulled her out.

We've just started again with a different school, she's now 5, and it's a totally different story. She absolutely loves it and will do things like jump in and put her face into the water that she wouldn't have dreamt of before. She's in a group of 6 with two teachers in the water with them. The pool is a small, privately owned one. We pay monthly, it's one months notice if you want to leave. The children move up a stage when they are ready to, its not like you do so many lessons then a test and move up if you pass it.

She did have some 1-1 lessons on holiday last summer which may have helped.

I didn't start learning until I was 6 and was swimming competitively from 8 so starting super early isn't always a pre-requisite for success.

Girasoli · 27/02/2023 21:03

With DS1 he did baby and parent lessons from 9months -3 then got interrupted by Covid. Restarted in year 1, swims a length with good technique now in year 2.

DS2 never did baby and parent lessons, we go as a family around once a fortnight/month. I think he needs to be 4 to start proper lessons where DS1 goes.

masterofmydomain · 27/02/2023 21:05

DD was reception age, and went to weekly lessons at a local swim school.

DS was year 2, delayed start due to lockdown/restrictions at pool.

Walkingonrainclouds · 27/02/2023 21:44

Dabbled with some baby and parent lessons when dd was young but then Covid hit. Started 2:1 lessons with instructor in pool, parent outside at 3 (they take them like that from 2 and a half) and she is doing great. Often it's 1:1 as they are not fully booked. Pricey at £60 a month but you can change sessions if you are unable to do them one week and book catch ups which other places weren't offering and they seem to be really good so worth it for now.

IME swim lessons in school are only good for those who can already swim. Either you only get a limited number in year 3/4 with an instructor at a public pool or you get lots of time if the school has its own pool but class teachers who aren't specialists in swim teaching.

Smallorangecat · 27/02/2023 21:49

She was 7 but had been on the waiting list for a couple of years. I pay for a block of lessons at a time. She is in a class with about 4-6 kids and 2 teachers in the pool with them.

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