to ask how to get my daughter swimming lengths?!

[FawnFrenchieMum]

DD9 had swimming lessons up to stage 5, did ok but was taught in a small private pool so never swam any ‘full’ lengths of a normal pool. She’s missed all but 3 or 4 of her school lessons due to Covid.
She can swim but gets tired after a couple of lengths, we have a membership and are trying to go regularly again now there’s no booking etc.
Whenever we go and the life guard who taught her very briefly at school is there, she is allowed in the deep end. If we go when some of the others are there. After a few minutes they always ask her to go back to the shallow end as they see her ‘dipping’ a bit on full lengths.
How am I going to get her confidently swimming lengths if she’s not allowed to swim them?! I don’t really want to put her back in formal lessons at the pool we swim in as they don’t get much chance to actually swim still.
I thought about private lessons again and ask to purely work on distance and stamina rather then badges but that would be back in the small pool, I think a lot of it is mentally it looks so much further then going up & down a small pool.

Do you live near the sea or a lake or other place you can swim freely? Somewhere were she can swim for as long or as little as she likes without lifeguard or instructor barking orders at her. I found open water ideal because I could just swim along the shoreline until I got bored or tired, then get out and walk back.

Pools are so restrictive, lengths and widths are not "real" swimming. It's safer to learn in a more natural environment, because if you ever get into trouble in your swimming "career" it will almost certainly not be in a pool.

I'd put her in swimming club. Look up for your local competitive swimming club, she'll be in the beginners stage but they'll do lengths and get her stamina & technique better.

She just needs more practice.

@livingthegoodlife

I'd put her in swimming club. Look up for your local competitive swimming club, she'll be in the beginners stage but they'll do lengths and get her stamina & technique better.

She just needs more practice.

Are they likely to accept her if she doesn’t pass the ‘swim test’ of two full lengths without stopping or dipping?

If she's dipping and going under water after a few full lengths then they're doing the right thing by trying to keep her safe. Like you said she needs to build up to this. Just swimming at all will help her to improve her stamina regardless of if it's full lengths or more half lengths.

Are they likely to accept her if she doesn’t pass the ‘swim test’ of two full lengths without stopping or dipping?

A guess, but maybe not if that’s the criteria?
She needs practice like you say, are you in the poo swimming alongside her too?

Just get her doing a larger number of shorter lengths/widths to get her stamina up.

Why don't you just get her to do lots of widths? That's what she'd be doing at swimming lessons if she can only swim a couple of lengths at the mo.

Could she use a float in her hands when she starts to tire to build up strength in her legs? Like anything I guess, she will get better each time she tries

At 9 if she hasn't the stamina to do more than a few lengths it sounds like her technique isn't very efficient so she is working harder than she should to swim therefore tiring quickly. Can she alternate a length of freestyle with a length of backstroke and repeat . The backstroke length is where you can relax and get your breath back. Doing this should increase the number of lengths she can do. Also might be worth paying for a few private sessions to get her technique spot on.

‘They’ they who? Other swimmers or the guards?

The only thing is practice! Does she do other exercises to maintain her fitness and strength?

Both my local swim clubs only accept kids who can swim the strokes correctly and have stamina to swim for an hour or more. They often send children back to lessons to correct their technique. If the technique isn't good than she will get very tired and it will be demoralising . So my advice is to enrol her back into a decent swim school with a 25m pool where she can swim full lengths and build up her muscles properly and learn how to breathe correctly.

@HarrietsChariot

Do you live near the sea or a lake or other place you can swim freely? Somewhere were she can swim for as long or as little as she likes without lifeguard or instructor barking orders at her. I found open water ideal because I could just swim along the shoreline until I got bored or tired, then get out and walk back.

Pools are so restrictive, lengths and widths are not "real" swimming. It's safer to learn in a more natural environment, because if you ever get into trouble in your swimming "career" it will almost certainly not be in a pool.

I would suggest that open water swimming, with a weak ish swimmer is not ideal..especially given if you are in the uk at the moment given winter is coming. its very eady to get into trouble.

I agree a club may be a much better option

I took mine to the pool and swam lengths next to her, she turned on her back and either floated a bit or kicked with her legs until she felt she could go on. Within 6 weeks she went from needing a rest after half a length to being able to swim 4 or 5. She just needs practice to build up stamina.

@Northofsomewhere

If she's dipping and going under water after a few full lengths then they're doing the right thing by trying to keep her safe. Like you said she needs to build up to this. Just swimming at all will help her to improve her stamina regardless of if it's full lengths or more half lengths.

She doesn’t swim in the shallow end though, just puts her feet down and messes around.

@KittenKong

‘They’ they who? Other swimmers or the guards?

The only thing is practice! Does she do other exercises to maintain her fitness and strength?

They as in the children in the council lessons, they only do widths, not lengths and there is so many of them in a class, the children only get a few goes at swimming widths during the 39 min lesson.

@Hellocatshome

At 9 if she hasn't the stamina to do more than a few lengths it sounds like her technique isn't very efficient so she is working harder than she should to swim therefore tiring quickly. Can she alternate a length of freestyle with a length of backstroke and repeat . The backstroke length is where you can relax and get your breath back. Doing this should increase the number of lengths she can do. Also might be worth paying for a few private sessions to get her technique spot on.

This is probably correct.

@KittenKong

‘They’ they who? Other swimmers or the guards?

The only thing is practice! Does she do other exercises to maintain her fitness and strength?

And yes, she is a dancer so does a lot of fitness and strength work. She’s asthmatic so not sure if that makes a difference.

Are there any public pools near you that are standing height all the way along? All ours are - the problem we have is finding a deep end! It's just practice I think, and the practice will be a lot more efficient if you can go somewhere she's confident. Or just do lengths up and down the side of the pool so she can grab the side for a rest if need be.

@EagleOrIgel

I took mine to the pool and swam lengths next to her, she turned on her back and either floated a bit or kicked with her legs until she felt she could go on. Within 6 weeks she went from needing a rest after half a length to being able to swim 4 or 5. She just needs practice to build up stamina.

This is what I have been / want to do but they won’t let me if they see her dip at all.

I learnt to swim properly a few years ago ( at 40!!) and I agree with PP’s about using a float to build up her leg stamina, plus she can breathe more easily. A leg float (often known as a pull float) is another good one, as you can work in your arms and breathing using that. It’s probably the breathing that’s causing her to dip though, you can’t keep going if you run out of breath. The leg float is great for practicing breathing too as it keeps you buoyant while you put your head under.

If she’s doing crawl, I’d suggest getting her goggles so she can put her head under the water and relax, gently releasing the breath. Holding your head above the water constantly is an effort. Take a breath every second stroke for now to get used to it.

As PP’s said, practice with widths and the floats until she gets more confident.

@Cameleongirl

I learnt to swim properly a few years ago ( at 40!!) and I agree with PP’s about using a float to build up her leg stamina, plus she can breathe more easily. A leg float (often known as a pull float) is another good one, as you can work in your arms and breathing using that. It’s probably the breathing that’s causing her to dip though, you can’t keep going if you run out of breath. The leg float is great for practicing breathing too as it keeps you buoyant while you put your head under.

If she’s doing crawl, I’d suggest getting her goggles so she can put her head under the water and relax, gently releasing the breath. Holding your head above the water constantly is an effort. Take a breath every second stroke for now to get used to it.

As PP’s said, practice with widths and the floats until she gets more confident.

Thank you, I’ll look into these options. She is using Goggles and does swim with her face in the water.

Can she do widths out of her depth so that she can have a short rest when she gets to the other side? Then build up to doing two widths etc without a rest. If she’s out of depth she won’t be able to rely on putting her feet on the bottom so can build up confidence without dipping.

Can she start by swimming from the deep end to the shallow end, getting out and walking back to deep end. That way, as she tires, she is in shallow water and can recover her breathing whilst walking back along the side. It sounds like her stroke isn't very efficient if she is tiring even though quite fit. Maybe a couple of private lessons would help.

She’s asthmatic so not sure if that makes a difference.

Depends on the child and how well controlled her asthma is and what triggers the asthma.

From AsthmaUK:

Amongst other things, the report found that swimming can improve cardiovascular health, lung function and breathing techniques, particularly in children with asthma. The hydrostatic pressure against the chest wall was also thought to be beneficial.

For some people with asthma, the humid pool environment made breathing easier although Kathy Mascarenhas, an asthma nurse specialist from Asthma UK, warned that some people identify chlorine as a trigger of their asthma.

She doesn’t swim in the shallow end though, just puts her feet down and messes around.

She needs the formal structure of lessons, I would imagine a lot of swimming clubs won't take a child till they've done all the swimming lesson levels and can swim for a long time.

Tbh, I had to have lessons to really get the techniques, especially the breathing. Once I had that down, I could build up my stamina. Might be worth doing some private lessons. I absolutely love swimming now!