Learning to swim- how important is it?

[cherrycat]

I have been reading posts on another well known parenting site by a woman who was worried she hadn't taken her 8 yr old to swimming lessons or hardly ever went to the pool due to finances (It was interesting to see she was ttc baby no2 on her ticker) and lazyness on her part......so her daughter couldn't swim and she felt slightly guilty about this.
A handful of people had posted saying 'don't worry my kids can't swim either' 'it's not important unless you live on a boat' or 'it's schools job to teach 'em'........I was rather shocked that these parents didn't think swimming was an important life skill!
I've been taking my DD swimming since she was 4 months old (@waterbabies) and now she has regular swimming lessons at local pool. I could never imagine not going on holiday or for days out near water and my daughter not being able to swim.....surely it's a potential lifesaver in a dangerous situation?

What are your thoughts?

I am in two minds about this because I loathe swimming, do it badly and have not missed it one jot by not doing it. That clouds my opinion of swimming lessons somewhat, but my two have had some lessons in the past. However, DS1 is dyspraxic and even with the very expensive one-to-one lessons he has have made very slow progress with the actual mechanics of swimming. He isn't afraid to put his head under water and he doesn't panic any more though so that is something. DS2 can swim a bit but doesn't like it either.

So from that point of view, my aim has to be to instil a healthy respect for water and to bear in mind personal safety if you are near it. Don't go near the harbour wall/cliff edge/pool edge etc.

I did read in a child development book some time ago that it isn't worth giving formal lessons to children under 4 because they aren't developmentally ready for 'proper' swimming. I suppose getting comfortable in water and losing the fear is useful but actually teaching strokes before then might prove difficult for some. Perhaps some people think they are better off saving their money until children can properly benefit.

Mine both rather hated swimming lessons but I made them carry on so that they could do sailing/surfing/wind-surfing/water-skiing, whatever, later on without worrying that they would have problems when they fell into the water.

Same here! (windsurfing/sailing/canoeing/lots more windsurfing in our case)

My closest friend never learnt to swim as a child, partly because her mum was overweight and didn't enjoy taking her.

She felt that when she was growing up she really missed out on watersports, always feeling nervous near water, etc. So she took classes as an adult, but it's much harder than learning as a child, so although she can now swim she is still not very confident in the water.

So yes I think it's important to be able to swim. I realise that classes are expensive, but in half term my parents and I took my 3 kids plus my niece to the superb Archway pool in north London, and with my parents being retired and cheap entrance for the kids it cost a grand total of £3 for all 7 of us!!

I have been doing classes with DS in my local leisure club since he was a baby. He has always loved the water. He is 3.5 now and goes in by himself.

I learned when I was little as well and had regular access to a pool. I'm from Brazil and we holiday there sometimes so I need DS to be able to swim to enjoy the pool with his cousins.

I think just relying on school classesis not enough. The leisure club classes withlondonswimschool are about 60 per term, and a mum on benefits I know gets a discount.

I think it's a great life skills especially in an age when people go aboad often.

Mine both rather hated swimming lessons but I made them carry on so that they could do sailing/surfing/wind-surfing/water-skiing, whatever, later on without worrying that they would have problems when they fell into the water

Both dcs have kayaked and sailed.

I think that knowing how to swim is an important skill.
However, I wouldn't stress about teaching very young children, unless of course they show an incredible amount of enthusiasm.

The can start at about 5, and learn basic skills in no time.

we took dd to the pool from 18 months and ds from 3 months but they didnt start lessons till later than that - both started around the age of 4. Now at age 8 dd is in the advanced swimming group and ds (age 5) is still in the beginners group.

p.s. we pay £18 per month for each of them and that covers a 40 minute lesson each week plus you can use their card to go swimming at any time you want at pools in the local area

Actually, there is a bit of evidence to show that if you want your child to drown - then teach them to swim.

Studies vary on this, whilst some studies show that swimming ability is unlikely to save your life, other studies show that people are far more likely to drown if they are swimmers than not. One Canadian study (with toddler / bath related deaths excluded) showed that of all the people who drowned in Canada over the period studied - 71% of them were swimmers.

One reason suggested for this is that swimmers are more likely to take risks / get closer to the edge / go out of their depth / swim in rivers where there may be undercurrents that they are not able to deal with than non swimmers.

This is from the American Academy of Pediatrics:
"Few studies have examined the relationship between swimming ability and the risk of drowning, and there is no clear evidence that drowning rates are higher in poor swimmers. Some have even suggested that, at a population level, increased swimming proficiency might lead to an increase in drowning rates through increased exposure to water.33?35 For example, among older children and adults, better swimmers are likely to participate in more water-related activities and may feel confident enough to swim in higher-risk settings, such as remote natural bodies of water with no lifeguards present. However, research in this area is lacking"

So the woman mentioned by the OP may actually be saving her daughter's life by not teaching her to swim. .

(That said, I have taught my daughters to swim, not because I believe the myth that it is a "life skill", but because I want them to enjoy being in water and not to miss out when with their friends at the pool).

And here are a couple more:

From Canada: (Safe kids Canada)
"Teaching children how to swim must be combined with other effective protection strategies. There is limited research on the effectiveness of swimming lessons in preventing drowning incidents among children. It is recommended that children receive swimming training, but adults should not assume it will prevent drowning."

And from Smart risk Canada:
"Still, swimming abilities are not enough to prevent drowning. Red Cross statistics suggest that 60% of recreational swimmers who drown have strong to average swimming ability. Among those who drown while boating, 90% are not wearing lifejackets and about a third involve alcohol. Men are much more likely to drown than women."

And this is from the UK:
"Obviously it helps to be able to swim ? if only for the psychological boost it gives when you find yourself in the water. But for those who drown in situations where swimming is possible, about as many swimmers drown as non-swimmers.

In the UK in 1977 55% of open water drownings were within 3 metres of safety, and 42% within 2 metres (UK Home Office). In Canada 1991 ? 2001 of those boating and drowned 41% were within 10 metres of the shore, and a further 22% were within 10-15 metres of the shore (Canadian Safe Boating Council / Smart risk survey).

Your ability to swim and stay afloat in warm water actually bears no relationship to your ability to swim in cold water. Why is this? Apart from the effect of waves and current, your ability to swim, or just to stay afloat, is affected by several things e.g. the state you?re in before immersion, dry drowning, cold shock, ?swimming failure? and hypothermia ."

Well, of course if you don't swim you don't tend to have swimming accidents, it is rather self evident, no?

I agree re cold water.

Like most bike accidents happening to cyclists?

Though there is a serious point - its important kids do the water safety course not just swimming, know their limitations and if doing water sports use lifejacket or BA as apt.

I want my children to be able to swim because I don't want them marring our holidays by refusing to go anywhere near the sea or a swimming pool/only going near them if I put them in armbands and hold them the whole time (too many children, not enough arms).... and also don't want to lie if I take them canoeing at a canoe-hire centre that they can swim when they can't.

I want them to learn to swim so that they can in later years choose to do other water-related activities that I would be terrified of allowing them to do if they couldn't actually swim - if they want to. If they don't, they still haven't lost anything learning to swim.

I also want them to learn to swim because they are both extremely hypermobile and swimming is an extremely effective form of exercise for people who need to be careful about the amount of stress they put on their joints, but who need some way of safely building up muscle strength and getting cardiovascular exercise.

I also want them to learn to swim because I don't want them to feel scared around water and don't want to feel scared taking them near water - I don't care whether it's rational to feel scared or not, or how likely they actually are to drown, I just don't like standing near the water's edge with a child who panics when they get a wet face, let alone when they fall in altogether. And I don't like imagining some little boy or girl pushing them into the water for fun one day, because they don't realise they can't swim.

I also want them to learn to swim so that they don't get teased for not being able to swim.

I also want them to learn to swim so that they aren't angry with me when they are adults for being too lazy to bother to teach them (as a couple of my friends are with their parents, who had to have lessons as adults because they felt they were missing out on a lot of activities because of their fear of being on or in water as a result of never having learnt to swim or been taken to swimming pools).

I also want them to learn to swim because I think swimming is fun and want to share something that I enjoy and makes me feel good about myself with my children.

I also want them to learn to swim so that they never need to feel excluded from friends' activities just because they can't do something many other children can. Same applies to riding a bike - it's good exercise, a useful skill, a lot of people enjoy doing it, it can get you to work cheaply (unlike swimming, except, possibly in very rare instances!!!) and it's something it's embarrassing to admit you can't do...

I think that's more than enough reasons to think I should make an effort to teach my children to swim. I don't think children need to be water babies from a very young age, though - not all children can be. I took mine to swimming pools from when they were very young and tried group and then individual swimming lessons, but this hasn't resulted in them being early and confident swimmers - they have taken their own time and are only in the last few months becoming quite competent and beginning actively to enjoy learning, rather than preferring to splash about. Some need longer than others to learn and some children enjoy it more than others.

I agree with other posters who say it is two separate issues: life skill and how young.

My family has always spent much of their time on a small island and around boats, so clearly a life skill and a pretty necessary one at that. Even so, not many children in the family have learnt to swim competently much before age 6. Before that, you supervise and (for older children) hope they will obey clearly established rules.

Nobody I know would expect a 2-4 yo to be able to acquire sufficient swimming skills to save himself in deep water; yes, they may be able to swim a few strokes but not enough for practical purposes. You would expect a young child to be supervised by adults or older children with good life-saving skills. And because this is Sweden, most children would be taught life-saving alongside their ordinary swimming and would know what to do in an emergency by the time they get to age 10 or so.

I agree that learning to swim is a vital life skill. I can't remember not ever being able not to swim and swim myself at least once a week, and have phases of going every day. I have been taking DS since he was 7 weeks old. Our local pool does structured "Drop in" sessions, very similar to Waterbabies et al, but cheaper and you only pay when you go. DS is confodent in water, can swim with armbands and will start formal lessons after Christmas. He is 3.

Another take on why you need to learn to swim - DH can't swim, and this excludes him from many jobs in his field. He, like me, works in civil engineering. He could never work for the organisation I do as we specialise in working on and near rivers. That's just one example, there have been others. He's also a mountain biker and hill walker and won't cross swollen rivers. He will walk miles and miles round an alternative route.

Well our nearest swimming pool is an expensive bus ride away, factor in the cost of entry to the pool and lessons and I just do not have the funds for it.

DD is 4yo and started in reception in September. She has weekly lessons at school and is now swimming unaided and confidently.

It would be nice to take my dc swimming and teach them from a young age but until I can afford to build a swimming pool or win the lottery and can afford bus prices and lesson prices, it's not happening.

I'm regularly taking my 9 mth old to the swimming pool and he loves water.

My parents didn't teach me to swim as they were both phobic of water. During my childhood I had two very near misses with drowning and grew up also scared of swimming/water.

Years later I conquered my fears by learning to swim and becoming a lifeguard. I rescued countless children when they got in difficulty - most of whom couldn't swim.

It is an essential skill to learn and I will definitely teach my LO water confidence, safety and eventually how to swim.

It's quite sad that not all parents do so.

Swimming is absolutely a life skill.

We live overseas and like most of our friends have a pool. Learning to swim is absolutely non negotiable, it is essential.

Swimming at a young age is about water confidence, teaching a child not to panic if they fall into water etc. I know of a child who had been having swimming lessons who fell into a pool whilst unattended by her nanny. She was found floating on her back and calling for help. She was less than two.

I think people understimate what a young child can achieve in terms of swimming ability. I so often hear excuses that it is pointless doing anything util they are 5 or 6.

My older DC's have both had lessons, they could swim at 2 & 3 and at 5 and 6 are confident swimmers. Both DC's can swim in the pool with clothes on and can remove them. A couple of weeks ago DD swam about 50 metres to a platform in the sea. They are not particularly unusual amongst their peers.

Totally agree with you Franca, which is why I don't get why so many believe it to be this all important life skill, and that parents are endangering their children by not teaching them, as if it is done foregone conclusion that the child will drown. Strange.

It is a foregone conclusion your child will drown if you throw them into deep, cold water with a slippery edge, with all their clothes on, when they've never been swimming before and then you refuse to help get them out.

What counts as a life skill, anyway? I would count breathing, swallowing, digesting food, keeping your heart beating and moving as pretty important.Talking, reading and writing come in handy, too.

Latchlady, I was just being a bit of the self evidence of these studies.

I do think swimming is an important skill, for the many reasons already listed on this thread.

Though, as I said, I don't believe it is necessary to take a 2 yrs old to swimming lessons, if that's a distressing experience for all concerned There is plenty of time to learn when they are a bit older.

I personally don't think you need to mention drowning when arguing that swimming is an extremely useful skill. If nothing else, I think you are disadvantaging your children and letting them down by never making the effort to teach them to swim. I listed lots of reasons above why I would want my children to be able to swim without once mentioning "life skills."

I have just paid over £60 for three one to one lessons for my 9 year old. Hopefully this will ensure that he can go straight onto stage 3 after Christmas. My 6 year old is joining stage 1 now, and will go into stage 2 after Christmas. That is, normal group lessons. I think it is an important life skill.

My friends dh who is a professional fisherman and spent most of his working day (and many nights) out on his boat, cant swim. He says there is no point. If he falls in, it will be too cold, too rough waters, too deep and too far to the shore for him to be able to help himself anyway. He reckons he will die from hypothermia within a minutes. (We are talking about a fisherman in the arctic doing winter fishing in several degrees subzero, with windchill and snowdrifts)

Quint - in that situation swimming wouldn't help at all. But what if he falls off a dock?