Swimming is on the syllabus for all children in the UK, and they have to be able to swim 25 metres by the time they leave primary school. But having the ability to swim one length when they're 11, isn't too useful when they're five or six and on holiday by the sea in Greece. Which is why many parents supplement school swimming lessons with trips to the local pool.
It is never too early to take your child to the pool and many public baths run courses for babies and toddlers up to adults. 'We have lessons for one-month-olds upwards,' says Gail Butlin, the swimming lessons coordinator for Castle Vale Swimming Pool in Birmingham. Up until the age of four it's more about gaining confidence rather than learning strokes. 'For the younger ones we do exercises with nursery rhymes,' she says. 'The important factor is to make the water fun for the kids.'
Leisure centres are the obvious place to start when looking for swimming classes for your child, and Roger Millward, chief executive of the Swimming Teachers' Association believes all children should be taught by trained instructors. 'School swimming is declining,' he says, 'but a great deal of damage can be caused if children aren't taught by professionals, from muscle injuries to, of course, submersion.'
Submersion is the technical term for drowning and, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 40 under-15s died from drowning in 2002, making it the third most common cause for accidental death in this age group. It's certainly a compelling reason to make sure your children learn to swim, but it's not the only one.
Swimming also keeps children fit, helps with their growth and strength, and it's a social activity that they will keep with them all their lives. 'What other sport can grannies, teenagers and young children all enjoy together?' says Rosemary Fletcher-Turk who taught swimming at Bollington Leisure Centre for 20 years before becoming a lecturer on the subject. 'It's part of our lives and a skill that people call on for all sorts of reasons,' she says, 'like when they become pregnant or for exercising after an operation. It's so important.'
Rosemary believes parents have a duty to approach swimming positively. 'If a parent arrives and says, ‘if Tommy doesn't like it, just call me, I'll be on the balcony' then Tommy is immediately going to think there's something not to like,' she says. 'Whereas if a parent shows their child that swimming is fun and takes them to the pool for outings, not just for lessons, then the child is going to enjoy swimming.'
Even if a child is afraid with good reason, that fear can be overcome. Giacomo Skeate fell into a pool when he was three and although he was pulled out straight away, it was, understandably, enough to put him off going back in the water that holiday.
Back in London however, Giacomo's mother, Loredana, invested in some one-to-one tuition. 'It was fantastic,' she says. 'The pool was sloped like a beach, so the teacher started by letting him lie on the floor and feel the water, then as he got more confident he moved on to floating.' By the following summer Giacomo was happy in the water and able to swim without his floats. But don't worry if your child still needs theirs.
'If a child starts swimming without armbands when they're too young, say two or three, they'll swim with an arched back, they don't have the muscle control to stay straight, and that's not good for their swimming or their development,' says Rosemary. She advises that children learn to swim using the pool bottom, a parent, a teacher, floats and armbands, that way they never become too dependent on one method.
Through jumping and splashing in the water they learn all about resistance and buoyancy. 'So when they come to learning a swimming stroke later,' explains Rosemary, 'they automatically feel how the angle of their hand can affect their speed. As they get older you can really battle to teach them these things, but when they're young, they're just like sponges, they soak everything up.'
Rosemary Fletcher-Turk advises that children learn to swim with a mixture of teaching aids: the pool bottom, a parent, a teacher, floats and armbands - that way they never become too dependent on one. It's not just swimming ability that will help a child - or an adult for that matter - if they get into difficulties in the water, it's breath control and floatation too. These are skills that a swimmer needs to learn whatever age they start, and although children pick them up more intrinsically the younger they are, they will learn them whatever age they start.
'It's a sport, and how far you take it will be a personal choice,' says Rosemary. 'For some it's purely a holiday thing, others may want to go sailing or surfing so they'll need the skill, while others may want to get involved in competitions like diving, distance or synchronised swimming. What's really important is that children learn to enjoy swimming when they're young,' she explains. 'That way, the choice of how far they take it is entirely up to them.'
Stranger danger
Risk of drowning
Choosing a class
