To think that children should learn to swim without goggles first?

[GoggleEyed]

This will out me so I have namechanged.

Now, I am not an eloquent debater like some on here, but here are my thoughts.

Swimming is a life saving skill. That is, if you child falls into a dam/river/lake/pool/off a boat/et al, then they are able to either swim to safety or hold themselves up long enough for help to be forthcoming in the shape of a lifeguard/parent/etc.
The first few seconds reactions can make the difference between drowning and surviving. If the first thought your child has is 'oh my goodness, water is getting in my eyes, I dont have my goggles' then they are necessarily NOT thinking about swimming. They are freaking out about goggles instead.

Once they are competent enough to swim to safety, say a distance of, dunno, 50 metres? (which would be more than sufficient in most cases, unless in the sea/lake) then by all means, give them goggles and they can work on correcting their stroke and distance endurance or whatever. But first and foremost, I believe, that we all teach our children to swim to help them should they accidentally go into a body of water. Yes, it is fun, but it SAVES LIVES.

Swimming lessons for babies and early toddlers are about getting them used to water and feeling comfortable in water and around water. Teaching them SAFETY about water, getting in and out safely. Later, as they progress with their familiarity they start to work on back stroke and free style.

So, AIBU in thinking that we should teach them without goggles first and how to potentially save their life THEN with goggles? Because how many people walk around, even sail around, with a set of goggle strapped on in case they fall in. In fact I dont think I have ever seen a pre-emptive goggle wearer!

[urbanproserpine]

Duh, realised it's already on there. Not to self to read ALL posts before posting

[mercibucket]

goggles leak anyway so they're bound to have experienced 'water in the eyes' at some point

chlorinated water is horrible to swim in. I had to stop swimming eventually when I was 16 cos of hideous reactions to it - nothing serious but bright red eyes etc - wouldn't want my kids to develop the same reaction

[quimbledonsemi]

I think if the getting water in your eyes is a barrier to you learning to swim you should wear goggles.

I think the lack of goggles wouldn't be the only thing that would throw you in a potential drowning situation. The liklihood is that you won't be in your local pool with clean, chlorinated water. But in murky water, getting mud and bits of plant in your eye. I think the lack of goggles would be the least of your worries tbh.

YABU.

[Andrewofgg]

In the absence of medical evidence that the child's eyes cannot safely be exposed to the water in the pool - not jsut some fussy parent's preferences - no goggles. And no arguments.

Being able to swim with goggles is fun. Being able to swim without them may save your life.

[busymum34]

DS1 HAS to wear prescription goggles for swimming, if he didn't, he wouldn't see a thing :(

[BrigitBigKnickers]

I suffer an extreme reaction to chlorine- my eyes turn red and will literally stream all day if I swim without goggles.

If my swimming teacher had insisted on me swimming without goggles I would never had learned to swim in the first place.

Have no such problem in the sea or fresh water.

[Step]

I've two step kids. Both swim well... very well. The ten year old knocks out 2km for fun when swimming with us. They attend swim club once a week, and in the the summer do open water as well as a couple of pool sessions.

The youngest has always worn goggles in the pool. The chlorine in the water burns his eyes. The eldest learnt without as a baby. After the just float stage however both wore goggles both because they wanted to, and we wanted them to.

If kids are to learn to swim properly and not just propel themselves forward in the water then they need goggles. Head up breaststroke is fine for pottering around, but to even swim BS properly you need goggles. Freestyle is a whole different ball game, your head is in the water more than out of it and try sighting open water without goggles, by the time you've focussed your heads back in the water.

[Andrewofgg]

Step, sorry, but that's bollocks. I learnt all the strokes without goggles and while I don't swim well I can swim!

[Vibrant]

Of course they don't need goggles to be able to learn to swim properly. I can remember getting my first pair for Christmas when they first came out, and I was swimming competitively at the time. And dd refuses to wear any and is doing perfectly well in her swimming.

They do help with vision, reducing glare if you're doing open water swimming, help immensely in the sea and stop eyes getting sore with the chlorine, and of course optical ones are a great invention - but I don't think they're essential to be able to learn strokes properly.