Swimming lessons, when to stop

[Loopyloooooo]

I have a 10.5 year old DS who has been doing swimming lessons pretty much weekly since age 5 save for 18 months with no lessons due to COVID.

He took awhile to gain confidence when younger but much more confident once he got into stage 4. However he has now been at stage 5 classes since April and cannot do a summersault in the water which he needs to be able to do to move up to the next stage .

He can swim a few lengths and tread water. Technique is not the best but I'm not interested in a technically perfect swimmer!

I had wanted him to continue until he gets to the stages of lessons where they practice swimming in PJs and bringing up bricks from the pool however if he can't do the summersault for stage 5 he won't be able to move up. I would've though practicing swimming in PJs would have been more useful for most kids than being able to do a summersault but anyway...

Does it seem like a reasonable point to stop? Just wondering what others have done. He had school swimming lessons last term and was put in the middle group but was moved up to the more advanced group for the last few weeks.

Does he enjoy it? Is it worth carrying on for enjoyment and fitness reasons? Can you go as a family at the weekend to practise the somersaults?

Speak to the teacher as they can move them up without passing the somersault bit. DD is also 10.5 and for love nor money can not do that bloody somersault. She can swim all 4 strokes though her teacher said no point keeping her in stage 4 destroying her confidence because of it. She's in Bronze now and this somersault hasn't cropped up again as a skill to pass until now where they would like them to do tumble turns. Again as she's not going into club swimming they are happy with a quick turn and go.

As it happens we've just stopped lessons this week as it clashed with her move up to Scouts. She was going as it was just good exercise more than anything else. Think she was at a point where she's not going to get any better technique wise.

I always said to her she could stop when she could save her life. IE float on her back, tread water for a couple of minutes and swim a good few lengths.

There seems to be a middle class obsession with children swimming. Once the child is confident in the water and can do basic swimming I would stop lessons and give them time to practice themselves. It will become evident if they have a natural ability that requires intensive coaching. Otherwise let them get on with it themselves.

This
bit of a loss about the middle class comment though never found that

Middle class 🤣🤣 aye alright...

He does generally enjoy it save for the sommersault 😆 which is getting him down a bit. I hadn't realised they could move him on without it so will definitely have a word with the teacher and see what they think. I do think he needs a bit longer with lessons but didn't want to get stuck on the sommersault and it dent his confidence.

I would be looking to stop once I am confident that my child is strong enough and confident enough to be able to save themselves should they have to... Swimming is such an important skill to master, one they will benefit from the rest of their lives. Enjoyment also plays a part though, as does general fitness.

I let mine stop at this age and they were only in stage 4. It was a bit odd as my other child completed stage 7 at an earlier age, but they are all different. If he really enjoys his lessons you could try taking him yourself and concentrating on the somersault. Otherwise let him stop, I had noticed my child was by far the oldest/tallest of the children having lessons.

Yes, hes a shorty so doesn't look out of place but I think he's the oldest in the class as most of the others go to the same school and are in younger year groups.

They can be moved up without doing the somersault. Talk to the teacher about it.

I have no idea what stage my child is! I think it’s down to whether they enjoy it and whether you can afford it. If the answer is yes to both then carry on. If it’s a case of needing the funds then I’d advise taking a break. Time out did wonders for my child. They just needed to grow up a little bit and when they went back they made quick progress.

When I was at school the goal was to get everyone able to swim 400m, ideally freestyle, without stopping. 400m is the average distance a rip will pull you out to sea before the current dies down.
So that’s 8 lengths of a 50m pool or 16 for a standard leisure centre 25m pool.

@TwoWeeksislong that is totally unrealistic for the majority of children, are you able to swim that far, in cold water?

Yes I can swim that far in a pool no problem. In the sea it’s harder and there’s no way anyone should be testing kids by pulling them 400m put to see.
This was in New Zealand and part of the PE curriculum for 13-14 year olds. It was do-able for the majority of us but hard work - a bit like running 5km I’d say.
Part of the point was to educate us about rips I think.

Mine had lessons from 5 & just recently stopped age 10, being a strong swimmer. Plus they also swim with school. Still loves it, so got them a membership for the pool (I have anyway & also cheaper option) so he swims with me 2/3 tines a week. keeping up the skill and also has fun.

I'd take him swimming yourself if you can so he can escape the stage system if it's so fixed that he can't progress without the somersault.

I was a decent swimmer (could swim 800m) but could not do the somersault despite different teachers and friends trying to get me to do it. Luckily in those days it just meant I couldn't receive whatever badge we were working on so I was still able to move up a group and learn the other skills. Diving to retrieve, swimming under water holding breath, swimming in clothes are such important skills for being in or around water so if the swim school are immoveable on the somersault thing I'd take him to a quiet pool with some kit and practise the other things. They're good fun to do so it shouldn't feel too arduous.

The whole point of the somersault is so that they can tumble turn. With most swimmers this is completely irrelevant, so I would ask if he can move up to stage 6. Dc1 quit swim lessons after stage 5, he was 9, he could swim 200m front and back competently. Dc2 loves his swimming and is now at a club in a development squad, he is 8 and dc3 who is 7 is in stage 5 and trying his hardest to join his brother because it looks cool. (I wish he would hurry up and join him as his lessons are twice the price of the club training sessions)

My DC moved up without doing the tumble after I spoke to the instructor.

The problem I now have is that the instructors change so frequently that I have to (or DC should but won’t!) tell them each time.

I am a poor swimmer so DC needs to continue as otherwise won’t get to go swimming at all and I’d like to continue for as long as possible. Swimming in clothes is the next step for DC I think after six years of continuous lessons apart from pool closure during covid.

I told my children that confidently bring able to swim 50m (which realistically means being able to swim 100m unconfidently) was when swimming became optional. Before then, they don't have a choice.

Your DC might better enjoy joining a swimming club rather than lessons. You don't have to be a competitive swimmer to join a club.

Do the clubs just swim in lanes? Is that boring for ten year olds? My DC didn’t like the sound of it at all.

Swimming clubs do mostly focus on 'just swimming'. They do still do the water confidence things lessons do, but less time and focus on it.

I mentioned it because if OPs child simply needs to be able to swim further/better (without focusing on somersaults etc) the a swimming club can achieve that more easily and much quicker.

I'd ask them why they don't do the swimming in clothes much earlier. Anyone can fall into water so it's something they need to practise right from the start, as soon as they can swim.

At my DC swimming lessons they take part in 'life saving week' as soon as they can do a length. DC1 is 4 and took part for the first time this summer (jumped in with clothes and shoes, practiced treading water and getting to the side/out of the pool, also learnt about water safety generally).