Swimming Lessons

Last spring, when my girls were in swimming lessons, I noticed that they were not improving much. Sierra had reached the level (3 to be exact) where she needed a good teacher who pushed technique and distance (something that is in short supply until you reach swim team level). She swam on her back just fine, but on her front, she still doggie paddled. To make swim team, she has to be able to swim all the way across the pool on both her front and back. Bailey, however, was barely putting her face in and wouldn't float on her back at all. She was showing almost no improvement after four or more month long sessions. So, I decided to take things into my own hands.

I used to teach swimming lessons when I was in high school, so I figured I could teach my own kids. Plus, we have a family Rec. pass. Why not use it? But I needed a way to get Blake off of my hands while I taught the girls. He's a complete handful, not afraid of the water or anything. Luckily, there is a toddler swimming class that meets once a week where I don't have to get in with him, so that became our swim time. Ready, set, go!

It's only been a couple of months, totaling about 6 lessons, but there has been a vast improvement. I worked on Sierra's technique (breathing to the side, pointing her toes, long arms, straight legs, etc.) and she's looking a lot better. When she really tries, she can now swim 15 yards without stopping on her front. When she's tired though, all of her old habits resurface. The idea is to eventually get her ready for swim team, so we've still got work to do. But it's going quite well.

Bailey was actually a bit of a surprise. The first time I had her in the water, she was very reluctant to put her face in. I knew she could though, so I made her do it anyway. Now, she's doing glides out to me and even "swimming" a few feet with her face in. She can also do a back float all by herself!

The funny thing about it all is that I had previously decided that I would never teach my kids how to swim. Why? Because it was something I could pay someone else to do. That's got to sound really strange coming from a mother who homeschools, but it's what I thought. I'm still quite willing to hand them off to someone else (one less thing for me to worry about), but it's really hard watching when I know I could be doing a much better job for less money. I'm going to be teaching Sierra until she reaches swim team level. As for the other two, we'll have to wait and see.

I plan on having all my kids on swim team one day.