Survival Swimming - An Essential Life Skill For Children

If you are new to the term survival swimming, here is the definition: The ability to float and breathe in water, irrespective of the depth (of the water body) and for an indefinite period of time. Parents having large water bodies on their residential properties find 'survival swimming' as one of the 'most essential' skills they can teach their children. While many believe that "teaching the child to move from face-down position in water to a face-up independent back float" is easy; it definitely is not so. It requires to be taught over a period of time and also requires the teacher to be skilled in teaching such skills. This is where a swim school comes into play.

Research shows that infants in the age group of 6-12 months can: learn to hold their breath in the water, roll from a face-down position to a face-up float, relax and breathe until help arrives and also perform all these skills fully clothed!

Once a child learns to roll over, float and relax in water, he/she starts to enjoy swimming, breathing when needed, and, more importantly, staying afloat. They also learn to conquer their fear of water and truly begin to enjoy the swimming experience.

Empowering your child

Not only is survival swimming all about relaxation, it is also about taking control. When a parent enrolls the child in a swim school which teach baby survival swimming, they are empowering their child with skills needed to be safe.

Children are naturally attracted to large water bodies, Jacuzzis, spas, and pools. Despite the best supervision, all it takes is a moment's distraction when a parents head is turned, that an accident can occur. Experts hence suggest that by enrolling the baby in swimming lessons conducted by the swim school, one can teach the baby to float in weeks. This way, parents can enjoy their vacations around water and they are automatically taking control over potentially dangerous situations. While supervision is always essential, parents can relax with the knowledge that their child can at least roll over and survive until help arrives were he/she to fall into the pool.

Once the child has learned the basic survival swimming skills, parents can continue with the baby swim lessons. The swim schools arrange these lessons in an age-appropriate manner and each advanced class enhances the skills learned in the previous classes. The goal of the classes conducted at the swim school is to make the child a safe, happy and technically sound swimmer!