What level swimming classes do you think you DC should get to before you let them give up?

[MilkRunningOutAgain]

My DD is not that keen on swimming at the moment, but I do want her to be confident before she gives it up, it being a life skill. There aren't many pools locally so we are stuck with one I don't really like where the teachers seem extremely strict and which has horrible facilities, doors falling off changing rooms, showers don't work etc. , at the moment it isn't really working for her. She goes every week without much complaint but doesn't really make much effort and seems to take a long time to progress to the next level, she just doesn't seem to be noticed much. I think the main reason she doesn't moan is that we always visit the play park next to the pool, and she loves that. The alternative is 45minutes drive away, though it is much nicer, with warm clean changing rooms etc. no idea whether the teachers are more encouraging. But this would take up most of Saturday mornings, so isn't something I'm keen to do.

Anyway, I'm hoping the end is in sight as she can now swim a length reliably, thanks to her school, which has a small pool, getting some lovely swimming teachers in over the summer term and giving all pupils 2 lessons a week. DD is now level 4 and can swim quite confidently, she has not learnt proper breathing techniques and is just starting on the different strokes. What level did your DCs get to before you thought they were good, confident swimmers?

Level 10 here. Which is the highest one can get to.
I won't know what to do with my life on Saturdays morning soon.

Ds1- natural swimmer gave up when he started secondary school. He started lessons when he was 8 though.

Ds2- never had lessons outside of school. He swam 10 lengths last weekend but we all had lots of fun.

Dd has hearing/ inner ear problems and I try to keep her out of the pool where possible. She swam 6 lengths.

I would say there is no hard and fast rule.

This is fascinating, thank you. I'm British but live in continental Europe. I've recently insisted that 2 of my DSC (5 and almost 7, had hardly been in a pool until a few months ago) have private swimming lessons; in fact I feel so strongly about it being an essential life skill that I've been paying for them myself (they are loving it). To my utter surprise, I have come in for no end of criticism from (local) DH's family and friends - why can't you just wait? They'l? learn at school - but round here they only do 2 years of swimming at school, and only from age 7. DH insists that after her 2 years of school swimming, DSD1 is a great swimmer; actually, she can just about keep her head above water. This thread has restored my sanity somewhat.

Voddie, you may not think that being able to swim 100m will keep your child safe, and you're right it probably won't but being a confident swimmer means having considerable endurance and being able to swim 1000m or more and being to switch strokes without stopping to prevent fatigue all of which are necessary for lifesaving.
Of all the things DD2 has done, she found treading water and calling for help for 2 minutes the most difficult. 2 minutes when someone is drowning is nothing.

Two of my children are currently swimming at stage 10, it's mostly endurance and competitive swimming, my son would happily give up but I've told him he needs to complete stage 10 first. My daughter is 9 and half his size but she swims faster times and has progressed much quicker through the stages, they have both completed bronze and silver awards. My youngest is seven years old and in stage 7, she's a good strong swimmer but I wouldn't let her swim in a pool without adult supervision - she has her 400m certificate and hasn't had any school lessons yet. I'm hoping both the girls will complete the rookie lifeguard course too.

MrsPnut in my post I did mention that being confident and being able to stay afloat for an extended period of time is essential. It all depends on how you are taught I think. I personally never had lessons but growing up in New Zealand spent many summers in pools/beaches/rivers from as young as I remember and usually unsupervised from around 10 (unless you count the older neighbourhood kids as supervision) we were always shown by parents/grandparents/adults when young the First thing you learn is how to tread water efficiently. I noticed that it isn't taught well here, well it wasn't to my DS (DS DID do lessons up to level 8) I had to undo what was taught and teach DS myself how to tread properly. I have spoken to DP about this too and he is also not energy efficient when treading water, he says it is how he was taught , though that was many years ago :)

voddie, your ds actually went up to level 8 then? from your first post i imagined level 4! level 8 takes a long time for most kids to reach if just doing lessons once a week. i agree with you, but your first post sounded like you'd done a couple of terms of lessons

I'm sorry if my post was misleading. It is the making children do lesson even when they really don't want to that has me every term before paying I would ask DS does he want to carry on he answered yes until he was 9 and half way through level 8 then we stopped as he wasn't having fun within the lessons anymore. Now we regularly swim but for fun and this has kept his stamina etc up

I think the thing I have found with my DS.. now he can swim a reasonable distance without needing to cling to the side he enjoys it much more.

He has a friend who he met in the pool the other week. He has never had swim lessons except the school and was sent down the shallow end. The said child was devastated and wanted to get out. The children are the same age..My Ds has been able to go into inflatable session on his own with a different friend..None swimming child can't go as they test them if they can swim 50 meters.

By working through the lessons my Ds is now enjoying the benefit. I do think you have to show them the benefits though... Take them for fun sessions..While it is a life saving skill it is also important they enjoy it so they are likely to continue

Levels have changed (again) since my DDs did their lessons, but they both completed the equivalent of level 7 and then some additional work - both had to swim up to 400 m at any stroke to get the level they were at. I would not have settled for any less. It was lengthy and expensive - they started when they were not quite 4 and finished when they were just shy of 7, though they did pass each level first time because we took them swimming weekly on top of lessons and practiced with them. They are now strong, confident swimmers in any environment at ages 12 and 14. It's worth the investment.

Thanks everyone, it's useful to get an idea of what a good swimmer is, though I do think some of you have high standards! DD is 9 , the school lessons are summer term only, the school pool is outdoors, so no more lessons til next year, and that's uncertain, as the school spent a lot on swimming this summer, it's a state school and the swimming lessons were an experiment, don't know whether the head will do the same next year, I have given feedback about how useful DD found the lessons, perhaps I will again. I think we will persevere for the time being and aim for level 7 at least. I will also look into private lessons , I think I have seen some 1 on 1 teaching at the pool but never really thought about it. And I must just stop feeling depressed by the general run down ness of the pool, as someone said upthread, it really doesn't worry DD, which is the important thing. Some of the kids on this thread seem to be very capable swimmers, I don't think lessons at our pool go past level 8, but I could be wrong. Who knows , DD may suddenly start enjoying her lessons more.

Don't know about stages, but most, if not all, of my friends' children (and my ds) had to continue with lessons until they got their mile distance badge.

I let mine give up after they each had achieved their 1500m badge.

dd1 quit private weekly lessons when she was 7, and has only had school swimming lessons (two half terms per year) since, but swims for fun. I have no idea what level she is or was, but she's a strong swimmer and confident enough to be safe and have fun in the water: I don't give a fig about the competitive side as she's not interested.

dd2 is an 8 year old fish who loves the water now (she didn't have lessons till she was 6 and is now on level 6). If she enjoys competitive swimming she can carry on as long as she likes - if she starts to hate lessons, we'll stop.

I want my kids safe in the water. I want them to have fun. Beyond that, its up to them!

I have no idea what the stages are aswe are not in the UK. I think insisting on really high standards of stroke technique or life saving or diving or speed is very harsh if the child actively dislikes the lessons and the atmosphere is unpleasant though - surely insisting on continuing with a sport in a miserable atmosphere will put them right off it (totally different if they enjoy it - otherwise insist they do a sport but not that they do your choice of sport)

50 meters in a controlled/ calm way, able to jump in and able to retrieve something from the bottom just out of their depth is enough in reality. Once they can do that it should be the child's choice IMO but keep taking them to the pool regularly and they can always take up classes later or choose to lane swim as a teen or adult and build up their own stamina.

I teach swimming and I won't be letting my children give up lessons until they can confidently swim 800m using at least the 3 major strokes, and they must have also done personal survival awards. A child who can just about do 50m in order to get the badge is not a competent swimmer, and it always amazes me that often that is the minimum requirements for water sport activities.

We gave up when DS (age 9) finished level 3, so very unlike most of you.

He loathed it and I saw no benefit in putting him through weekly sessions that he detested (and was not progressing in).

I will carry on getting him to do intensive courses in school holidays when I can. If he wants to do water sport in the future then he might have the incentive to try harder with the swimming.

I'm a confident swimmer. Eldest dc loved swimming, but hated lessons. Bit of a hooha trying to find good lessons which didn't clash with the activities they actually enjoyed. I can't even remember which level they got to, but I know they are a good swimmer.

Rambling now, but I was happy for dc1 to be taught the basic skills and then leave the lessons as they'd be coming swimming with me. If I wasn't a good swimmer or had no intention of going swimming, I'd have got dc1 to persevere with the lessons longer.

Dc2 on the other hand loves the lessons and is happy to carry on going. I personally think the lessons are quite slow paced.

I don't know about the stages wither, but mine had all done their mile or 1500m badge before giving up.
They might not need to get that far, but I certainly think confidently being able to swim at least 400m has to be an absolute minimum, but also with other skills such as treading water, confidently jumping in to deep water, and so forth.
Partly it's for safety, but mine have also had SOOOOOOO many hundreds of hours of enjoyment through kayaking, sailing, paddle-boarding, rowing, etc.,etc. as teens, that they wouldn't have been allowed to do (or even confident enough to want to do?) without being confident swimmers.
Then there's the thrill of being able to "go swimming with your friends but without Mum or Dad" once they get to about 10 or 11, and your peace of mind knowing they are confident in and around water.
Then there's the swimming on holiday, once young teens and you can relax with a book, knowing they are strong swimmers, etc.,etc.etc,

I agree that it's fantastic for kids to be good swimmers, and that they miss out on a lot if they aren't. However, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to figure that out for themselves.

My older daughter had a reasonably reliable doggy paddle from an early age, but when she was little she was quite a whiner and would not have tolerated lessons well. I waited to give her lessons until she begged for them. She did so at 12, starting alongside kids who were about seven years old. Her progress was much much faster than that of the younger children. I don't know whether this was confidence, or coordination and muscle strength due to being older, or just sheer motivation. She progressed through all the levels in nine months.

One of my dd's friends is now 13 and is wanting to do various water sports which she can't do because she can't swim. She has suddenly developed an interest in learning to swim, because now she can see the point of it.

I can imagine some circumstances in which I might force my children to learn to swim, for example if we lived on a boat. But we don't.

How will children learn self motivation if they don't set goals for themselves? And why waste everyone's time (and money!) dragging an unwilling child through lessons they don't want, from which they won't benefit much?

Interestingly, my dd had a similar experience with musical instruments, which she started learning as a teen. Her teachers said that teenaged beginners do usually learn far more quickly and happily than younger children, and so she did. I don't buy the idea that there is a brief window of opportunity during which these skills must be taught. The right time is the time when the child wants to do it.

Our son has nearly finished ASA level 6 and while he is keen to just keep going I think I will feel comfortable once he had completed 7. If he was to ask about stopping I'd insist on completing to 7 first, and whatever the distance in that I'd like to see a few 100m in a choice of stroke. He's only just done a bit of swimming with his clothes on in 6 and I reckon he needs to be stronger still.

My dd1 would like to do bronze, silver and gold, after which she can stop lessons. Currently she's on level 6/7 (genuinely don't know what they are working on) and has done her 400m. She's 7.

Our pool does loads of things she could do once she's done with doing badges - polo, diving (which she could do now), swim camp in the holidays, rookie lifeguarding.

She loves to cycle too. Maybe she'd like triathlon one day...

Dd1 in particular isn't the most naturally active child so lessons are important for that, too.

My ds is 12 and is still having lessons. He got his ASA Gold last Christmas. He's a decent swimmer but not good enough to do club swimming so he does a post-gold class at our leisure centre. I am hoping they might do a Rookie lifeguard course that he can switch over to as they ran one earlier in the year. As well as the distance badges and levels/bronze/silver/gold, he's done various SEAL badges on personal survival.

A local private swimming school says level 5 bare minimum and level 7 recommended. At one point my ds asked to stop and I said when he got his level 7, but his lessons jumped from level 6 to bronze and by then he wanted to continue!

Our DD (aged 8) is in stage 5 at the moment and has had a certificate for 250m and DS (aged 6) is stage 3. Ideally I would like them both to complete stage 7. DD in year 4 will be starting weekly lessons with her school from September, I swore both the DCs would be able to swim before they started going with the school as I remember the experience of being the only non-swimmer in my class at primary school.

They both moan a bit about the trek to the pool where they have lessons but they enjoy it when they're in the water. They also love going to waterparks/pools on holiday and on weekends away so when DS moans about his lessons, I try to explain that unless he can swim, he can't go down the big slides in the waterpark.

DD is 7 yrs old and in stage 8 and is muttering weekly about not wanting to go anymore but for once I actually have both kids swimming at the same time (her little brother is 3 and in stage 2) so whilst I take one I may as well take them both.

She is a lovely swimmer and is technically very good (am a qualified swimming teacher myself although have never formally taught mine) but it's very good exercise so she won't be giving up for a while yet.