Did Anyone See..

I was watching the news tonight,

This child was playing on the park with mum. Apparently the child attends a baby swim school. She was'nt very old was certainly a 'water babe'.

I missed most of the story but she has fantastic potential for the future as a swimmer.

She could'nt have been more than four, if that.

 

My missus has been taking our little lad swimming since he about 3 months old. First to a baby swimming class, but then when we moved we couldn't find such a class, so just general mum/toddler sessions.

Babies take to water naturally (they spent their first few months living in a bag of water after all). When my lad was going to the class he mastered swimming short distances unaided, and could swim under water (they instinctively hold their breath and don't panic). Unfortunately when we moved, there was a gap of a few months when he didn't get any swimming practice so it set him back a bit, but now at just turned 3 he has all his confidence in the water, and swims fine but with a float jacket on (not like an inflatable belt, just like a mini low profile life jacket really).

 

Great clueless,

That child was loving every moment under water with goggles on...swam like the proverbial fish.

 

I learned to swim when I was about 18 months old (basically my mum just chucked me in and kept an eye out while I happily pootled about under water - I can actually remember it). I've loved the water ever since.

Not all babies would be happy with that approach (!) but I do think that teaching your child to swim at a very young age is one of the best things you can do for them. It saddens me every summer when you hear about kids drowning on the news