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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:
manchestermummy · 27/01/2011 12:29

My MIL is terrified of water and as a result refused to let my DH and SIL have swimming lessons, even though they wanted to. They learned at age 10 with school, and DH by his own admission is a weak swimmer. I learned to swim at 4 and had lessons until I was around 10 and DD1 much prefers to be in the water with me as I'm a strong swimmer. DH is a keen runner and cyclist who would love to have a go at triathlons, but his abilities in the water are holding him back.

So YABU. Swimming, IMHO, is a lifeskill.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 27/01/2011 12:30

Oh niecie - I know that well :(

Ds's OT also suggested climbing, at one of those indoor places. Not tried it yet though.

Swimming is so blinking hard for them, isn't it? Watching him try reminds me of me trying to do Lets Dance on the Wii. Poor thing, inheriting his mother's truly shocking co-ordination!

woopsidaisy · 27/01/2011 12:33

My kids learn to swim and school. We take ours to the gym pool at the weekend also,and have done since they were teeny bubs. But I am a bit Confused at why all the mums are taking private classes too. They are very expensive,and the swimming coach in school is really good. Not sure why so many of them feel the need to do private lessons too...

mercibucket · 27/01/2011 12:34

manchestermummy - my dh is the same - embarrassed by his swimming - he can swim but not that fast so he won't do triathalons as he's too competitive
maybe not a great reason to learn to swim - for the sake of future triathalons - but it's a bit like riding a bike - a skill it's better to learn as a child than be embarrassed not to have as an adult

PaisleyLeaf · 27/01/2011 12:36

The lessons at my DD's school aren't good enough.
It's only for the summer term, the time in the water is quite short and the lessons at the moment are not mixed according to ability. And they start quite late.

mercibucket · 27/01/2011 12:38

slightly idfferent point but we avoid the 'rookie lifeguard' classes - I want my kids to be able to swim but not to feel like they're up to rescuing someone else - easiest way to drown yourself! a drowning person will grab at anyone near and push them under. I'd rather mine learnt the art of the mobile phone to call for help and maybe how to throw a rope in if there should be one handy.

Socy · 27/01/2011 12:38

niecie it might be worth looking for a children's yoga class, although they are few and far between and he could be the oldest there at 16. With yoga you go into a pose and hold it so less movement is involved overall, but you really learn how to control different parts of the body. Some yoga teachers will do 1:1 but would be expensive.

LadyWellian · 27/01/2011 12:38

seaweedhead yes, it's all very well saying 'school will teach them in Y4/5' but in DD's class the majority of the non-swimmers did not really make progress during school lessons as they were just plain frightened.

marge I don't think it's on the secondarry curriculum - it was one of the things I asked about when we were looking at schools and one of the heads of PE told me that specific sports on the curriculum had been replaced with broad headings like 'stuff that raises your heart rate and makes you a bit out of breath' (I'm paraphrasing), meaning that they could do away with losing half the afternoon fior the sake of 20 minutes in the pool and play badminton instead.

DD has been having lessons since about age 6 (we taught her the basics on holiday earlier than that) and now in Y6 she can swim 1km in front crawl, which frankly is a lot better than I can do.

Niecie · 27/01/2011 12:39

JenaiMarr - Climbing is probably another no-no - he can't even get up a climbing frame in the park without me physically lifting his feet and showing him where to place them. He does get it in the end but by then he is tired and fed up and can't see the point!

Does your DS still go swimming or have you given up? DS was having one-to-one lessons but they are horrendously expensive so we stopped for a while. Need to give it another go really.

(Oh and I know what you mean about Wii Dance Wink)

LadyWellian · 27/01/2011 12:42

Oops, secondary Blush. And for, obviously.

Niecie · 27/01/2011 12:47

Socy - he is 10 - going to secondary in Sept so no more OT and the need to find something active for him to do to keep up his skills, such as they are. Yoga might be good actually, thanks.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 27/01/2011 12:53

We've taken a break from swimming, but will take it up again soon I think.

Ds goes to private OT sessions (NHS support in practically non-existant here), and can continue to do so once he starts secondary (although most of the others lose interest after a while in Y7).

tyler80 · 27/01/2011 12:54

I love swimming, it's the only chance I get to feel graceful, and as someone else mentioned swimming and getting into a rhythm can almost be like meditation.

Also as a child I was much smaller than all my friends, it was great to find something where physical stature didn't matter so much because I could make up for that with technique.

Even ignoring the life saving aspect, I'm not sure why you'd want to deny a child the opportunity to learn. ime, whilst it is possible to learn as an adult, it is harder and you'd never quite reach the same level as those who learned as children.

mercibucket · 27/01/2011 12:55

tai chi is also good and is really a martial art in disguise (just speed it up a bit)

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 27/01/2011 12:55

Going back to the Wii thing - I hope that ds seeing his mum being utterly useless but still having fun is a good thing - there's so much emphasis on being good at things rather than enjoying them, I think.

Although I doubt he'll find it quite so amusing in a year or two when watching me will be painful rather than entertaining Grin

deemented · 27/01/2011 12:56

I've actually just booked DS2 onto a swimming course for the February half term holidays. An hour a day for five days for just £7.50.

springlamb · 27/01/2011 13:01

I think they do well with water if you start them really early at mum/baby classes, and if you live the sort of life that involves pools/beaches a lot during the early years. Having confidence in the water and being comfortable having water on your face is important, even if they don't have formal lessons.
But IME if they're not used to the water and 'having a go' by the time the school classes begin they have a bit of a fear of it and this gets in the way.
DD (9) has 13 girls in her class and they have just finished their second and final cycle of school swimming lessons. Six girls are still in the baby pool and I think that's a bit sad.

trixymalixy · 27/01/2011 13:02

Swimming is a really important life skill for safety reasons.

Also as children all my sister and I did when we were on holiday was spend whole days in the swimming pool as we loved it so much. My Mum was happy too as it gave her a break and I want that too Grin. How else would you entertain the kids on holiday otherwise Grin.

It's rubbish that kids can't swim until they are 5. At about 2.5 they have the physical strength to support themselves in the water, and at about 4 have the strength to lift their head out to do proper strokes. So says the swimming teacher anyway!!

I also don't agree with those of you who think baby swimming lessons are a waste of money. I have been taking DS every week from about 6 months old, he could swim across a pool unaided at 2.5 and at 4 is doing breaststroke. DD has been going since she was 3 months.

springlamb · 27/01/2011 13:03

I'll tell you something else that's great about having dc who are competent swimmers...on holiday they can go into (sometimes chilly) pools on their own and you can sit at the side with your book.

sparkle1977 · 27/01/2011 13:09

The idea that adults who can't swim "feel like complete idiots" is a little melodramatic i'd say ??!

I can, for instance, drive and view others who have not learnt to be a bit lacking but to say they feel like complete idiots for not doing something widely done is not really fair.

I don't believe there are people who actively discourage swimming in their children but there will be those of us who do not actively push our children into lessons unless they want to do them.

I can swim but only a limited amount but enough to save myself from drowning, thats all I care about. Not everybody loves swimming as an activity.

mumbar · 27/01/2011 13:16

YA and YANBU. Formal lessons aren't for everyone but do think everyone shouls learn to swim in the same way we teach the green cross code for road safety.

My DS does do swimming lessons, firstly because he always swam underwater and I felt he needed to be shown the on the water safety side of it!! He now swims for a club twice a week, his choice, as he wants to compete like my Dad and Brother did. He's only 6yo atm btw.

FWIW young children CAN do strokes. At 4yo my brother copied my dad and taught himself butterfly. He started lessons and at 7yo gained the club record for 25m. He still holds it now 16 years later.

And yes it is a great fun and imformative way of excercising for children. I do not agree with forcing them though if they really hate it.

Niecie · 27/01/2011 13:18

JenaiMarr - you are right - you don't need to be perfect and it can be a bit of an excuse not to have a go I think.Smile

Sparkly - I agree. There is an awful lot of 'you have to learn to swim, it is fun' on here. We aren't all the same - some of us don't like it and we are not somehow lacking in some way just because we have a preference not to spend time swimming.

mayorquimby · 27/01/2011 13:24

because nobody trusts adults who can't swim or drive

Katiepoes · 27/01/2011 13:27

I'm surrounded by canals - lots of my neighbours have gardens backing onto them. All the kids learn to swim very early, as much so that they don't freak out if they fall in as to actually swim. It gives them confidence and respect for the water.

I don't swim very well myself (lack of fitness and general slobbery) and don't see the appeal of swimming up and down in lanes, I love splashing about in the sea though, and am like a child if given the chance to leap of of something into water.

CatIsSleepy · 27/01/2011 13:33

swimming is about the one form of exercise dd1 will willingly undergo and always enjoys- there's never any whinging (and boy does she whinge about other stuff).Plus she hates me and dh trying to teach her anything.s

I'm a crap swimmer but I enjoy it...it's a good life skill to have!