How to Teach Kids to Swim

Kids are very enthusiastic and fast learners and they possess an infinite curiosity. Therefore teaching them how to swim at an early age is a great thing since they have the potential to learn how to breathe, how to stay afloat, how to manage the speed and rhythm and the right strokes.

Parents should make sure that they are watching the kids at all times and at no point should kids be left alone or out of sight in the pool. This is true regardless of how shallow or small the pool may be. Parents should also try to take their kids to pools which are not overcrowded and have good standards in terms of sanitation, rules and regulations on showers and cleanliness, and at least one life guard on duty.

Parents should make sure that kids are exposed to expert training right from the beginning and not rely on incompetent or overconfident trainers who can expose them to wrong breathing and swimming techniques. This is crucial because unlearning bad techniques may prove to be harder than learning afresh.

Kids should be taught how to properly breathe while partially submerged in the pool so that they can retain as much energy as possible for the longest period of time. Care should be taken to emphasize that they do not ingest any water while breathing and do not inhale it during the time their heads are fully or partially submerged in water.

Kids should also be taught to keep their hands, palm of the hands, trunk and legs as straight as possible to make sure the body moves as hydro-dynamically as possible. The kids should be first taught the freestyle technique and later they can be taught breast stroke, back stroke and finally butterfly. There is no perfect age to learn swimming but kids as young as two years old can be introduced to the joys of swimming.

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Lifeguard testing

freestyle swimming2
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Becoming a lifeguard requires completing a series of swimming related tasks within a certain amount of time. The swimmer must also show proficiency in all fields of testing to pass. A common prerequisite for many swimming programs is a swimming test divided into two major portions, including a basic swimming exercise and a brick retrieval. To pass the swimming portion a swimmer must be able to pass three different sections of a 300 meter swim. The first 100 meters of the swim a swimmer must demonstrate aptitude with the front crawl. In this stroke the swimmer is on their stomach reaching out with alternate arms and pulls their hands underneath them. Their legs must maintain a regular, steadying kick and the swimmer must demonstrate regular breathing. Next the swimmer must use a breast stroke for another 100 meters. This stroke must consist of a pull, breath, kick, glide interval. The swimmer will first pull themselves forward using both arms simultaneously with their head under water. The pull ends with the head breaking the water and the swimmer taking a breath, as he kicks and and glides back under water to repeat the pulling motion. The final 100 meters must show a proficiency in both of these swimming methods. The last portion of the test is a brick retrieval, where the instructor will place a 10-pound weight in seven to 10 feet of water. The swimmer must swim 20 meters above water using a freestyle or breast stokes and then dive and retrieve the weight. The swimmer must then swim back to the starting point with both hands on the weight. Once the swimmer reaches the starting point they must exit the water with the weight without using the ladder. The swimmer has one minute and 40 seconds to complete the retrieval.

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Fun Facts about the Four Basic Swimming Strokes

If you’re new to swimming or if you’re just looking to broaden your skills beyond the dog paddle, here are some interesting things you should know about the four basic swimming strokes used in competition.

Front Crawl

Called the “freestyle” by competitive swimmers, the front crawl is the fastest stroke overall. Although a “freestyle” competition officially means that swimmers can use any stroke in the race, swimmers will almost always go with the front crawl for its speed and efficiency. Because lifting the head out completely of the water reduces speed, expert racers learn how to turn the head out of the water only high enough to take a breath.

Backstroke

Also known as the “back crawl,” this is the only competitive stroke done on the back—which makes for easier breathing, but it’s hard to see where you’re going. It’s also the only competitive style for which swimmers start in the water instead of diving in. Until the mid-20th century, backstroke swimmers held their arms straight in the underwater push, but Australian swimmers discovered using a slightly bent arm underwater improved speed. The bent-arm technique thus became the favored method worldwide.

Breaststroke

Generally considered the slowest of the competitive strokes, the breaststroke is difficult to learn and to master. Performing the breaststroke requires superb timing, and swimmers can be disqualified from a race if they miss even one stroke. A popular stroke with recreational swimmers because of its leisurely pace combined with its excellent aerobic benefits, the breaststroke is done by pulling the arms along the body while legs do a “frog kick.”

Butterfly

The newest stroke to competitive swimming, the butterfly was first swum as a separate Olympic event in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Called the “butterfly” because of its wing-like arm movements, the stroke is considered by many swimmers to be the most difficult stroke to perform well. The powerful pull-and-push movement with both arms makes the butterfly’s peak speed even faster than that of the front crawl, but the stroke’s recovery phase makes it slightly slower than the front crawl during a race.

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