Speedo event day feedback: non attendees: all your comment about swimming to win a Speedo goodie bag! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

This thread is for the Mumsnetters who attended the Speedo 'Underwater World' VIP event on Tuesday 29thOctober.

Here's what Speedo have to say, "After new research revealed that 81% of kids wished they could go swimming more often and that a third would rather get a new badge for swimming than be able to ride a bike without stabilisers, Speedo wanted to celebrate this by hosting a unique Underwater World event for kids and parents."

Non-attendees: Is swimming something you do with the whole family? Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming? Everyone who adds their comments or tips about getting kids in the water will be entered into a prize draw to win a Speedo goodie bag.

Attendees: Below are a few questions for you to answer but please feel free to add any other comments you may have.

• What was your and your DCs overall experience of the Speedo VIP day? Could you describe the day to non attenders?

• Did you find the swimming lessons and Q&A with the Speedo ambassador helpful and informative, or not? If so, why? If not, why not? What questions did you ask and what response did you get?

• What did you think about the Speedo products shown to you on the day? Did you like them, or not? Do you think you'd be likely to purchase any in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

• What was your DCs highlight of the day?

• Do you think the day overall helped encourage your children, and yourself perhaps, to go swimming more often and / or to learn to swim?

If you took any pictures on the day feel free to upload them onto this thread. Remember, however, only to take and upload pictures of your own children.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

[DifferentNow]

Non-attendee

We don't take the DC swimming as often as we should because DH can't swim and is a bit phobic about pools and I can't take them alone as we have 5 of the buggers. We really ought to though because the DC love it, it's a cheap activity, good for them and it tires them out! I think that swimming lessons should be free and part of the school curriculum.

[Meglet]

Non-attendees:
Is swimming something you do with the whole family? No. I'm a LP so it's easier to swim individually. The DC's are 6 and 5 and have group lessons, plus private lessons (which are expensive but worth it for a life saving skill) and I do lengths when I get time and have my legs waxed. Once they're older and strong swimmers I'll rope them into lengths with me.

Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming? I took them every other month as babies / young toddlers. Just to get them used to the pool and atmosphere. I'm probably a bit mean on them actually, I see swimming as such an essential skill that I have no time for whinging about it . In my defence my sister nearly drowned twice so I'm pushing for them to be strong swimmers (in pool and sea) and do the life saving courses when they're teenagers.

I've also bribed them with ice creams to go knee height in the sea. DS is tall and almost 7 so I'm aiming for him to be able to swim in the sea next summer.

[DoItTooJulia]

Non attendee here.

We love swimming here! I take my older son for a swim every week. He has a lesson while I swim and then we muck about for half an hour.

My younger ds I used to take once a week in the daytime, but not sure how we will do that now I'm back at work .

Then we go as a whole family, DH too, every other Sunday to a pool with diving boards.

[Zombieminx]

I've been taking DD swimming since she was 6m old - the earlier they start, the quicker they get confident in the water!

My top tip is to always take a good few snacks (yoghurt tube, banana etc) as she's always peckish after all that hard work in the water!

[ChaffinchOfDoom]

my 2 dc started swimming lessons about a year ago, they love it and my dd in particular spends more time underwater than above it. I'm stuck for taking them swimming at the moment as I don't have a maternity cozzie.. but it is great fun to go as a family. The UK could do with more waterpark type places and turn up the heat in the normal pools I loathe being cold brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[0x0x0mum2bubs0x0x0]

Is swimming something you do with the whole family? Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming?

Both of mine have swimming lessons every week but we try to go most weekends too. DH and I get so much pleasure from seeing them progress and grow in confidence and it's brilliant exercise through the winter months when they can't spend as much time outdoors.

My best tip is to stay calm and smile lots. If you are jolly and brisk then they are less likely to panic. If your DC goes under and freaks out stay smiley and cheerful and try not to fuss them too much. It's amazing how they look anxious or worried but then smile when hey are reassured by your calm behaviour.

Both of mine are now more confident in the water than I am :)

[asuwere]

Non attendee.
My DC love swimming and I wish I could take them more often but it's very difficult to fit in. We have 4 DC and DH and I work alternative days to each other to avoid childcare so we don't often have a day off together and due to the ages of our DC, we can't take them swimming alone. The main time they get to go swimming is when we're on holiday where they go every day and love it!

I've encourage the children to just play in the water rather than concentrating on learning to swim - I always want to make sure they feel confident enough to play and float then it seems easier to introduce proper swimming. We started taking them all as very young babies so although they haven't been regularly, it's never been a completely alien concept.

[BornToFolk]

Non-attendee (which I'm a bit gutted about as DS would have loved to have gone!)

Anyway, we don't often go swimming "as a whole family" ie. just the two of us. This is mostly because DS has a weekly swimming lesson anyway and also because our local pool is really quite grotty and basic. Fine for lessons but not really the kind of pool that you want to spend any length of time in. We love swimming on holiday though and it's amazing how much he improves after a week or so of being in the pool everyday.

I've been taking him swimming since he was tiny, about 4 months I think. TBH there probably wasn't a lot of point in the early days, other than giving us something to do but as he got older he began to really enjoy his lessons and they've given him great confidence. I do think that confidence in the water is absolutely essential. We used to play lots of games to get him used to having his face splashed! Now he just leaps into the water but again, thanks to his lessons he knows how to do this safely.

[Flapdoodles]

Non-attendees:

Is swimming something you do with the whole family? A mixture of going as a family and myself with the 2 DCs. DD5 and DS7 have both had swimming lessons and are much better swimmers at their age than I was. We recently had a holiday with a villa and a pool and it was great to see how confident they both were in the water.

Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming? Start early, I started with DS at 13 weeks and DD was about 5 months. I took DS to a swim baby type class which I really liked as otherwise I would have just been holding him in the water. DD benefited from what I had learnt. I think you also need to make it fun, DD went through a bit of a stage of not being keen and so we took a plastic doll with us and various water toys. Our local pool does mother and baby sessions where they have lots of toys for the little ones to play with.

Everyone who adds their comments or tips about getting kids in the water will be entered into a prize draw to win a Speedo goodie bag

[octopusinastringbag]

Non-attendee.
We always went often as a family as my ds loved swimming but dd was scared. we went to a pool with a trainer pool so she could paddle and made it fun, we took toys for her and eventually she wanted to go in the main pool with ds and then never looked back.

[woodchuck]

Non-tester

Swimming is the one exercise based activity we all enjoy as a family (execpt for yomping, but that is seasonal in my view) and both dcs are confident swimmetrs. we have a family gym membership which includes unlimited pool tiime so tend to go at least a couple of times a week. saying that, i am not an especially elegant swimmer myself and find it hard to advise the dcs on how to improve their swimming stroke. I think tthe gym membership was the best thing we did as swimming has become 'normal' for us as a family. Prior to that the kids loved going to the pool in the next town which has a water slide and wave machine and is much more like being on holiday.

They like to practice diving and retriving objects abnnd we have a set of rings and sticks they play with at the pool

[fourmonthstogo]

Non attendee

We love swimming, but perhaps don't go as often as we should - sometimes it feels like such a mission to get everything together to go, and the learner pool near us has pretty limited hours on my days off due to lessons. My DD finds the main pool too cold.

I echo the earlier posters thoughts, snacks for afterwards, not least because it keeps her occupied whilst I get dressed!

[michelleblane]

Non-attendee
We have always swum as a family. DH is still a regular swimmer and used to swim competitively. We were happy to take the children from a very early age. All 4 were swimming by the time they started school. We used to go to family sessions on a Sunday at a local leisure pool and played to build up confidence. Husband and I took it in turns to go off and do a few lengths. Two sons now have their own children and they are also regular swimmers.

[skyeskyeskye]

Non attendee. DD 5yo loves swimming. We first took her when on holiday when she was 6 months old, then at various times but always when on holiday.

She started swimming lessons in September and on holiday this week actually swam half the width of the pool, after only 6 lessons. She was very pleased with herself.

Her school don't take them swimming which I find a great shame. By the time I left primary school I could swim 2000 metres and had done my Bronze life saving award.

It should be compulsory for all schools to include swimming lessons.

[Willemdefoeismine]

I think it is now compulsory for primary schools to include swimming lessons - one of the KS2 targets is for the DCs to be able to swim 25 metres (at least). I think this is a fairly new addition to targets though as
DS only did 7 timetabled sessions of swimming in his entire primary school career. DD, on the other hand, at the same school, will be getting the equivalent of a whole year's worth of sessions over Yrs 3 and 4.

[nicename]

Non attendee. My tip is to get children in the water as early as you can. Make sure you have a soft towel and nice snacks for after!

[SirChenjin]

Non-attendees: Is swimming something you do with the whole family? Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming? Everyone who adds their comments or tips about getting kids in the water will be entered into a prize draw to win a Speedo goodie bag.

No, I don't swim with my family. The DCs have all attended/are attending swimming lessons, but I loathe swimming. Every LA pool I've ever attended always seems dirty, overcrowded and absolutely freezing - and I'm always aware that I'm swimming in other people's pee. Yuk.

There is nothing on this earth that would make me want to go swimming.

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Non-attendee:

Swimming is something dd and I do together every Sunday morning come hail or shine. In the week she has a swimming lesson, and goes also with my Mum when I am at work. Dp can sometimes be persuaded to come but whinges about the cold I think we do it because a) she loves it and always has and b) it's just something I was brought up with, even now the smell of chlorine in the changing rooms and the noise from the echoes at poolside itself just make me feel 5 again. My Mum used to take me, and my Gran took me and my cousins to an outdoor lido in the summer.

[BadlyWrittenPoem]

• What was your and your DCs overall experience of the Speedo VIP day? Could you describe the day to non attenders?

Overall I think DD1&2 both enjoyed it though DD1 was very disappointed at the lack of the one to one Q&A with an olympic swimmer. I felt the day was a bit disorganised as after the lesson in the morning we were just told that food was upstairs and then there was no direction really from then on. Speedo had also massively undercatered for lunch - we did get food albeit a rather small lunch but some people who got upstairs after us had to buy things from the small concession as the food had run out. The goody bags seemed to be very disorganised/haphazard too as they were just giving bags out randomly at random times and then giving people additional things at random. We got bags with a couple of items in whereas we saw other people being given much more and some people didn;t appear to be given anything. Also, when we went back for the play session after lunch, I felt a bit like we weren't really supposed to be there as there seemed to be a new group of people who had come for an afternoon event and there were only a handful of children there from the morning and when we came into the pool there seemed to be a bit of confusion about why we had come back in.

• Did you find the swimming lessons and Q&A with the Speedo ambassador helpful and informative, or not? If so, why? If not, why not? What questions did you ask and what response did you get?

I was with DD2 (15 months) for the swimming lesson part so can't comment od DD1's lesson other than that she said it was good but I found the one with DD2 useful as it gave me more ideas for activities to do with her when I take her swimming. Although the programme we were given suggested that there was a one to one Q&A session with an olympic swimmer, this did not materialise so I did not ask any questions. This was a big disappointment as DD1 had especially been looking forward to that bit.

• What did you think about the Speedo products shown to you on the day? Did you like them, or not? Do you think you'd be likely to purchase any in the future? If so, why? If not, why not?

DD2 was very taken by one of the little toys which was similar to the ducks you would play with in the bath. The woggles seemed a bit pointless to me - it seemed like we were using them just for the sake of it and I found them rather unwieldy to manouvre especially when holding a small child at the same time. We also used a bouyancy vest thing which was offered to use instead of armbands. I actually expected it to be pretty good but I found it disappointing. One flaw was that the float bits being all around the torso meant that I couldn't really give DD2 proper reassuring cuddles when she felt a bit unsure in the water and the other was that when she was tipped to the horizontal position I felt that it was very easy for her to be tipped upside down which is something that wouldn't happen with armbands.

• What was your DCs highlight of the day?

DD1 liked the swimming and getting a balloon at the end the best.

• Do you think the day overall helped encourage your children, and yourself perhaps, to go swimming more often and / or to learn to swim?

I am very pro swimming myself anyway and have only been prevented recently by ill health but if I was less keen then I think it would have encouraged me to go more.

[BadlyWrittenPoem]

Also, I agree with the comment someone else has made about the gender specificity of the products - I now have loads of OTT pink stuff because I took two girls which will be no use for the child on the way if they turn out to be a boy.

[domesticslattern]

Non-attendees:
We go swimming occasionally as a family but it tends to be much more just splashing about than teaching the kids to swim. My tip would be to have a look at the Council website as our Council has very heavily subsidised crash courses in swimming in the school holidays: £15 for five lessons this summer. DD1 went on this, I watched from the poolside and took note of what she did and then practised it with her afterwards. I would also suggest trying different pools if you have the option: living in London, there are three or four pools near us and we like to try them in turn as they each have different benefits eg. wave machine, beach, clean changing rooms, outside pool, woggles in the water, steps for pretending to be a crocodile on (none have all of these!).

[Nigglenaggle]

Non-attendee: We try to make swimming a family thing. We make a point of taking DC weekly - most of the time one of us takes him but when we can we go as a family. Its something we all enjoy - seeing him enjoy the water is great fun. I think the thing is to start early and make it fun. We dont do lessons but just splash around - he's still developing important water skills - ultimately we just want him to be safe if he falls in. We've been going weekly since he could walk and he's really confident with face splashes etc.

[QOD]

Non attendee

My dh and dd will not go swimming.
Dd did up to boobpuberty age and had lessons from 4 onward and was a water confident from about a year old

Dh hates it and won't strip off for anyone

I honestly don't think it's an option, it's a necessity! Children must be able to swim and or self support in water as soon as.

[BellaVida]

Non-attendee here. I struggle with 4 young children as according to all our local pools I cannot accompany them on my own. The only way I can get around this is by them having lessons.

My main tip for getting the younger ones started is to choose a shallow pool so they can touch the bottom and feel safer and more confident in the water. Even my 3 year old could touch in the shallow end of a hydrotherapy pool they have recently had lessons in and it made a huge difference.

The other tip for a young nervous child, is to sign them up to a crash course going daily to quickly build up water confidence. The fact that it was a teacher and not mummy made all the difference to my youngest. Sometimes kids find it harder to let go if it is a parent taking them or they pick up on our nervousness. Peer pressure can also be a wonderful thing in swimming!

[Pistillate]

Non-attendees: Is swimming something you do with the whole family
When my partner and I were together it was rare for us to go swimming together. It is mostly me that takes them. Have you got any tips to share on how to introduce your children to swimming? I remember planning to take my 1st child regularly, and took her to the splash and swing course when she was 4 months. This was great and helped me to feel confident about taking her to the pool. However, I did not keep it up( tip: keep going regularly to avoid toddler meltdown!) and when she was only 14 months old, I tried taking her to the pool and she utterly hated it and cried her eyes out. Fast forward to them starting swimming lessons 2 years ago... Skipping a mere handful of swims between times older child was not enjoying it, and we did a few weeks of it before going on holidy and swimming daily in a river for 10 days. After that she LOVED it! (tip: playing in the water daily can give kids a chance to get over their dislike of geting water in their ears etc.) and i think they have progressed steadily over the last 2 years, and their teacher has suggested a competitive club they could join. One reason they have done well is because eventually i realised that you have to take them swimming at least once a week other than their lesson to give them a chance topractise what they have learned. I am an awful swimmer, but that's no reason for my dc to be the same. They love going to the pool despite one of them HATING getting changed afterwards because drying off and putting clothes on with damp skin makes her eczema feel awful. They get to play, they get to swim lenghts, and they feel great.

Our nearest council pool is fantastic. I don't mean to brag, but there have been a few negative comments about council pools, so I just want to say that is not my experience. We have friendly helpful staff, clean facilities, sensible temperatures and it's fairly cheap.