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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder what he bruhaha is about learning to swim..

167 replies

AtYourCervix · 27/01/2011 11:17

great if you want to but why the years of weekly lessons and enforced cold dripping and swallowing someone elses wee?

what's the point?

OP posts:
working9while5 · 27/01/2011 11:50

Notevenamousie, my dad taught me in the freezing waters of Youghal beach, Co. Cork. In the rain. No need to go to Turkey and it was FREE! Just not very pleasant. Still made me a keen swimmer!

2old4thislark · 27/01/2011 11:50

Any adult I know that can't swim wishes they did.

We did years of it. It's good to know that they could swim quite a distant if need be. Also for us to it was an afterschool activity and a chance to meet other people.

And you never know when there may be a rubber brick, between two submerged hoops, that can only be saved by someone wearing pyjamas Grin

Ok swimming in a chlorine pool may not be the best of fun but we had some lovely days at Hampton Open Air Pool and Guildford Lido.

And diving off a boat into the Carribean, Pacific or Indian Ocean is sheer heaven...

BranchingOut · 27/01/2011 11:51

I am taking my son to baby/toddler swimming lessons and am keen to keep it up as he gets older.

Apart from safety in the water, I want him to be physically agile and confident (so will add other sports lessons as needed) and to have good swimming technique. I never had lessons but was taught by my father and so have poor technique. This means that i have never really been able to swim far enough to use it for exercise.

pascoe28 · 27/01/2011 11:51

The word is 'brouhaha', for those that didn't know.

Ephiny · 27/01/2011 11:51

I learned to swim as a (nervous) adult, so it is possible. (I did have school swimming lessons but they were worse than useless and left me terrified of getting in the water).

Better to learn as a child though, otherwise you miss out on a lot during your teenage/young adult years. And like many skills, it's easier to learn when you're young and not so anxious!

Agree it's an essential skill for safety as well.

SoupDragon · 27/01/2011 11:53

"but realistically how often are you likely to be falling in a lake and at risk of drowning?"

Well, it only takes once, really, doesn't it?

working9while5 · 27/01/2011 11:53

BranchingOut, go and have lessons now! I was taught doggy paddle by my dad but I had a few lessons when I was in university and it was very easy to correct. I had never fared well with lessons when I couldn't swim as I was a generally nervous sort and had little trust of the water until I could so adult lessons were better for me than the few I had as a kid. It is well worth it to sort even as an adult - never too late!

TrillianAstra · 27/01/2011 11:53

"Well, it only takes once, really, doesn't it?"

I agree with Soupy

hillee · 27/01/2011 11:54

It is perhaps one of the most important life skills there is, not to mention a safety issue. Admittedly I live in Australia where a staggeringly high percentage of backyards also house pools...

Regardless of where you live, it is a lovely thing to do - beaches, lakes, pools, who cares?

I take DD (11 months) several times a week. She is already comfortable floating on her back with some support and will happily jump in off the side and surface without panicking.

And btw, I could swim like a fish (in any stroke, my mother is a stickler for technique) by the time I was five.

manicbmc · 27/01/2011 11:54

I have managed to get to 41 without drowning. I'm pretty sure I'll make it a few more years.

And anyway, the men with the harpoons that turn up if I wear a swimsuit scare me.

Socy · 27/01/2011 11:54

Adults can learn to swim, either from scratch or to improve technique. I have appalling technique and hate getting my face wet, so will never improve, but I can race DS (15) a length of the pool and not lose by too much!

SoupDragon · 27/01/2011 11:56

"I have managed to get to 41 without drowning."

Good for you. There are plenty of children who didn't make it to 2.

HuwEdwards · 27/01/2011 11:56

Depends. I love swimming (proper sticking your head in stuff) and do it 2/3 times a week.

My older dd is a fab swimmer and loves it too

My younger one is a so-so swimmer but still loves it.

What's not to like?!!

LadyBiscuit · 27/01/2011 11:57

My BIL teaches junior swimming lessons and he says that the ones that were 'taught' to swim as babies are worse than the ones than he teaches from scratch.

I take my DS (3) every week but I'm not entirely convinced that lessons for a child his age are really worth the cash

Anonymousbird · 27/01/2011 11:57

Because the children enjoy it???

My two so look forward to their swimming lessons.

Great exercise.

AND it means they are safe near water/have a lot more fun on holiday.

Original poster
AtYourCervix · 27/01/2011 11:59

and i can sple brouhaha and the but i can't type.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 27/01/2011 11:59

I have to say that my main reason for schlepping along to baby swimming from when mine were all weeny was because I am not confident in the water and hate being splashed etc. I didn't want my children to have my fears. It also helped me a bit since being splashed was inevitable.

Learning to swim/water safety was a bonus, especially when DS1 slipped into a pool on holiday but was able to push up from the bottom and grab the side and when DD decided to run at full pelt from the paddling pool into the main pool. She could also push up from the bottom and take a breath which gave DS2 long enough to grab her (he was in the pool and closest)

working9while5 · 27/01/2011 11:59

LadyBiscuit, that's interesting. I have a friend who has taught swimming who says the same, that the ducking etc is very bad for them re: trust in the water. What does your BIL think is behind it?

ragged · 27/01/2011 12:00

I don't know why your DS has an OT, Niecie, but your post reminded me that Daniel Radcliffe has highly praised gymnastics lessons (done as a child) for helping improve his dyspraxia.

I agree that formal lessons for the under 4s are rarely worth the money, but for the over 5s they can be a brilliant investment.

SexyDomesticatedDab · 27/01/2011 12:01

We did 'cos Rolf Harris told us too and he's a very nice chap so YABU.

Also there used to be those public information films where the boy tries to reach for a ball in a pond / lake and ends up drowning....

Showing my age I guess Wink.

Its a good form of exercise and having proper swiming lessons does help them to progress faster.

snowmash · 27/01/2011 12:01

I know in some local towns the risk is seen to be young adults/older teenagers - poor swimmers mixed with canals/rivers and alcohol.

working9while5 · 27/01/2011 12:02

Sadly the young people I know who have drowned all fit that category, snowmash.

LadyBiscuit · 27/01/2011 12:02

working9till5 - yes, it's the confidence thing, being pushed before they are comfortable. Interesting isn't it? My DS certainly hates putting his head under water and after accidentally ducking him last week, he was definitely less confident this week so I won't be doing that again in a hurry!

melodyangel · 27/01/2011 12:04

Because not being able to swim means that in an emergency you can do nothing to help, because you can't teach your own kids properly, because you can't join in with all the fun, because you feel like a complete idiot when you have to admit you can't swim and because one day it might save your life!

I can't swim. Please, please help your children to learn.The idea that if they can't swim they will be more careful is rubbish - sorry but it is . Yes I'm more careful but I can't completely avoid it altogether.

Nefret · 27/01/2011 12:04

I think it is great for children to learn to swim. I had swimming lessons when I was 6 as my mum isn't a very good swimmer and is afraid of water and she didn't want me to be the same.

However I have never taken my girls to swimming lessons, I taught my 6 year old to swim last year on holiday and I got my 4 year old swimming with arm bands. I think if you are confident enough to teach them yourself then you don't really need lessons.

One of the reasons I don't take the girls swimming though is their hair, my 6 year old has thick curly hair down to her bum and it is such a palava if it gets soaked in the pool!

I do think children should learn to swim for their own safety though and if swimming lessons save just one child's life then it is a good thing to do.

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