Swimeasy

[Daftmum47]

Is does anyone have a child doing the SwimEasy classes in Edinburgh?

We go every week, and have been doing so for several terms. On the one hand it all seems very well organised, but on the other, I’m very concerned at the rate of progress. It seems glacially slow! I have been trusting in the process up until now, but the other week my child got a sticker for being able to put their face under water and blow bubbles!!!

Other views and comments welcome.

Best advice I got from a work colleague was to wait (and save) until they were 8ish and blast swimming with 1-1 lessons.

We did weekly group lessons and also 9 months of 1-1 at the same time, Ds went from screaming when his hair was getting washed to his bronze rookie life guard badge and swimming 20 lengths in pjs to just warm up in a year. It probably cost the same as several years worth of group lessons, but he had much better technique and I didnt have to sit beside a pool every week for years.

Ha, this is a different approach to the one I’ve taken, though it sounds like it’s been more effective.

My reasoning was that when he was older there would be more things competing for my child’s time, so there were some things I wanted to get covered early - swimming, cycling.

But I’m beginning to feel like I’m robbed. I take my 5.5 son swimming and I see younger children with more advanced skills.

I’ve sunk so much time and money now though, that I wouldn’t stop and resume at 8 now.

Have you spoken to the swimming instructor? Do you go swimming with your child yourself? 5.5 is still very young and everyone develops at different rates. There could be a part of this level they just can't master yet.

I've had two DC go through swimming lessons, both with the local council swim school.

Dc1 flew through the levels and had completed the Scottish swimming curriculum levels by the time he was 6 and a half. He didn't move onto swimming club (although he could have) and is still a very strong swimmer.

Dc2 started at the same age but had a big gap due to covid and now at 8 he's still slowly working his way through the levels, teachers seem reluctant to move them on and spend much more time on individual skills and techniques which means painfully slow progress and it's frustrating for the children. We spent the summer constantly in the water as a family and he came on leaps and bounds. We've just sacked off the lessons as I don't know why I was spending money on them to make such little progress. Literally years of doing the same thing week in week out.

I've got an 8 year old who started council swimming lessons at 4. Big gap due to Covid of almost two years, then restarted in private lessons. He's never made it out of the non swimmer class! I've just binned the lessons as getting utterly fed up, as was he. He can swim a bit unaided but visible progress is painfully slow and to get to the next class he needs to tick off a few skills to do with turning and so on that I never see them practice so how does he get them ticked off? Unfortunately it's really difficult to get 1:1 lessons where we are. Even the other council and private lessons are full.

This isn't Swimeasy though, just a general sympathetic rant about swimming lessons!

Both of mine did Swimeasy. Excellent for learning good technique and they both became strong swimmers going through the full course. But not the fastest way to learn how to swim.

Thanks for further comments. We’ve just changed lessons from one day to another - sticking with the same provider - and perhaps it will go better.

Now that my child is nearly 6, I’ll ramp up the time I spend in the water with them, and try to accelerate things.

If I’d known progress would be so slow, and never have gone down this route, I think after Covid I was just so grateful to get a space, there was so much pent up demand. I suppose I can console myself it has helped to create an exercise habit, not just wasting money !

The key takeaway is probably to do more swimming with him myself!

Both my kids went through Swimeasy and then onto club swimming. It really depends what you want, but they do teach good technique and all 4 strokes. Swimming is one of those things that can vary wildly depending on the child. Some are very slow in the beginning stages and then just ‘get it’ moving very quickly thereafter. Some
are strong swimmers by 8/9. A lot of it comes down to their physiological development and strength as well
as other sports they are involved in. Gymnasts tend to
learn quickly for example as they have developed strength and flexibility early alongside good body awareness.

I would go by whether your child is enjoying it. If not, it might be worth a break for a while to allow them
to mature a bit and then go back in 6-9 months. 1:1 lessons might also be worth a go, but they are expensive. I would certainly ask to have a word with the teacher to see what they think. They’ll be able to offer more insight.

Thanks @Dentistlakes
I’ve just paid a new term so will give it a few weeks and then review.

My 9yr old is “orange hat” and I’d agree it’s so so so slow. But to be fair to them their stated aim is to teach all four strokes without any bad habits. They’re not at all about “survival swimming” but about laying foundations for perfect technique.
I don’t care particularly about perfect technique but am happy for my son to go weekly for years (6 and counting now). It’s an enjoyable part of our weekly routine.
id say if you want them to “learn to swim” in a term or year then stop lessons it’s not the right provider.

Should say - my dc can swim many lengths now of front and back crawl. His breaststroke is ok-ish and his butterfly not good. He can dive in from the blocks but his tumble turns are ropey too. (He’s maybe 1/4 into orange level).

I think there isn’t space in the upper levels to move them on to. My twins are seven and we are at the beginner level. Their swimming teacher has apologised as there is nowhere to move them up to. He doubles as a lifeguard so is helpful giving them advice as they swim lengths up and down the 25m pool. Then on Mondays they practice jumping in the shallow end with the rest of the class.

I’d forgotten that, so thanks for the reminder!

I’ll tot it all up and think about it.

I think he’s going to have the same physique as his uncle, who has a great physique for swimming!

If upper level groups are full, they should maybe try to keep that beginner group together and develop them?