Swimming is truly a cradle-to-grave activity. It’s easily accessible and beneficial to everyone, no matter your gender, age, ability, and socio-economic status (Moﬀatt, 2017a). The low-impact nature of swimming oﬀers benefits other than just a fun time in the water. These perks spill over into several areas, from preventing drowning and enhancing safety (WHO, 2014) to promoting overall wellness, all while indirectly developing social skills (Howells & Jarman, 2016).

Has your child learnt to swim yet or started swimming regularly? If they’ve been going to swimming lessons for some time, you might be wondering whether it’s a good idea to continue. Are they ready to take a break, or is there more to gain from ongoing swimming lessons, especially during the cold winter months?

Regular swimming lessons has shown to prevent the loss of skills that naturally happens with extended breaks. It’s also the perfect indoor activity during cold winter months, providing kids with a safe and fun way to stay active. Signing up for swimming lessons throughout the year, including winter, not only improves swimming and gross motor abilities, but also encourages a lifelong commitment to staying active and healthy.

By continuing their swimming lessons, kids improve their swimming techniques, increase their endurance, and become more confident in the water, which helps their development into strong and capable swimmers. It’s a win-win, with many benefits;

Safety First

One of the most important benefits of swimming lessons for kids is the focus on safety (Moﬀatt, 2017a). Swimming lessons teach children how to react calmly in emergencies, understand the importance of supervised swimming, and respect water rules. These factors lay a strong foundation for lifelong water safety.

Swimming is FUN

Who doesn’t love swimming? It’s a great way to keep your children active and unplugged from screens, which means less sedentary behaviours. It can also help children focus and clear their minds after a busy and stressful day.

When they achieve goals, however big or small, it makes them feel accomplished, confident, and proud of what they can do. Through consistent practice, kids can be fully present in the water, with each lesson providing a new and exciting adventure. They get happy when they master new strokes, dive for toys, and race their friends, which heightens their enjoyment and maintains their interest (Hopple, 2018).

With every lesson, kids get that awesome feeling of accomplishment, leaving them with a positive and fulfilling experience. Also, uninterrupted swimming lessons encourage friendships where two children bond over shared challenges and victories in the pool, creating memories that last (Moﬀatt, 2017b).

Develop and Maintain Skills

Swimming lessons are a fantastic way for children to build a wide range of skills that they can use in everyday life. These skills up their physical strength, coordination, and endurance (Howells & Jarman, 2016). Also, swimming lessons teach important life skills like discipline, perseverance, and goal setting, as kids strive to improve their performance and reach their goals.

The structured environment of swimming classes also promotes auditory skills such as listening and the ability to follow verbal instructions (Jorgensen, 2013). When combining all these skills together, kids are not only made better swimmers but are also allowed the opportunity to experience improvements to their overall development, instilling a sense of confidence and accomplishment that they can carry into other areas of their lives (Charmas & Gromisz, 2019).

Repetition is a key factor in swimming. A decline in water confidence and swim skills can be seen even after only a few months without lessons. Repetition and consistency can help enforce swim skills and increase muscle memory allowing it to become second nature (Mally, 2009).

Physical Fitness and Technique

Swimming is like a full-body workout for kids and has been dubbed as the ultimate “all-in-one fitness package”, as it engages most of the body’s muscles (Turley, 1997). Sticking to swimming lessons is crucial for developing and refining techniques such as proper breathing, eﬃcient movement through the water, and development of various strokes like; freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly (Lahart & Metsios, 2017).

Swimming is like mastering any sport; practice makes perfect. So, let’s encourage our kids to continue their swimming journey. It’s not just about swimming better; it’s about staying safe, building confidence, developing skills, and having lots of fun in the water!

Written by Eileen Africa.

REFERENCES

Charmas, M. & Gromisz, W. (2019) Eﬀect of 12-Week Swimming Training on Body Composition in Young Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16(346) pg.1-13.

Jorgensen, R. (2013) Early Years Swimming – Adding Capital to Young Australians. https://kidsalive.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2013-EYS-Final-Report-30-July-13-JM.pdf

Hopple, C. (2018) Top 10 Reasons Why Children Find Physical Activity to Be Fun. A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators. 31(3) pg. 40-47.

Howells, K. & Jarman, D. (2016) Benefits of Swimming for Young Children. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323016944.

Lahart, I. & Metsios, G. (2017) The Physiological Eﬀects of Swim Training Interventions in Non-Elite Swimmers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 48(2) pg. 337-359.

Mally, K. (2009) Movement Skill Learning through Repetition, Variety and an Explicit Purpose. A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators. 22(5) pg. 16-19.

Moﬀatt, F. (2017a) The individual physical health benefits of swimming: a literature review. Swim England, June 2017.

Moﬀatt, F. (2017b) The wellbeing benefits of swimming to communities: a literature review. Swim England, June 2017.

Turley, K. (1997) Cardiovascular Responses to Exercise in Children. Sports Medicine. 24(4) pg.241-257.

WHO (World Health Organization). (2014). Global report on drowning. Preventing a leading killer. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/global-report-on-drowning- preventing-a-leading-killer.

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