Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut answer to this, and as with many swimming-related questions, the short answer is that ‘it depends’. For example, I had a client who started lessons with her child at 5 months old because she had a pool in her backyard. Even with all the proper safety features in place, she knew that most of their summer afternoons would be spent by the water and wanted to ensure that her child was safe in case something happened. Some parents start their kids at a young age for other reasons including sensory integration and increasing muscle tone. Parents tell us  that as a result of swimming lessons, their kids have learned to focus better and listen to directions.

I took a training course in Portland, Oregon, where it was very trendy to sign up for infant swimming lessons as an extracurricular activity. Some questions to take into consideration when deciding how young you should start teaching your child to swim are: do you have a pool – or exposure to a pool? How much time and money are you willing to invest? What are your goals? Do you want your child to be safe in deep water? Or to have perfect strokes?

Another factor to think about is which camp you’re sending your child to and making sure to do research on their swimming program. The Department of Health only requires that camps provide 1 lifeguard for every 25 children. For older groups who are strong swimmers, this might be enough. But for young kids this ratio can border on dangerous. If your child is attending a camp with a large pool and minimal lifeguards, it’s imperative that they are deep water safe prior to the advent of the camp season.

Along a different vein, in order to end drowning, we need to make sure that all adults learn how to swim. That way, they will truly understand the importance of passing this life skill to future generations- something that is hard to comprehend if it’s something they themselves avoid out of fear or discomfort.

The million-dollar question! It’s also the most common question we get from potential clients. Unfortunately, we haven’t figured out a one size fits all answer. There are so many variables that need to be taken into consideration. Does the child have sensory issues? How much body awareness do they have? Do they have any physical limitations or developmental delays? How much exposure do they have to a pool? Is the child afraid of water? Are there any behavioral issues? Has the child experienced any trauma around water? Without this information, how can I answer accurately and honestly? If a swim school tells you they can teach your child to swim in 15 lessons before even meeting them- they are not the professionals you want to trust your child’s swim instruction to. Every child is unique and has their own pace that they can successfully learn.

We need to define ‘swimming’. At Waterwaze Swim Academy, we define swimming as comfort and confidence in deep water. When a student can easily hang out in the deep for 10 full minutes without getting tired or panicked, we consider them a swimmer. Getting to that level of proficiency takes time, but we consider this the gold standard for safety.

We also want to take into account what the parents’ goals are. We have some clients who just need their child to be comfortable in shallow water where they can stand. Then there are others who want their child to learn the butterfly stroke and become certified lifeguards. And then there are parents who don’t care about strokes. They just want their kids to be safe because they have a pool in their backyard. As a general rule, I find that parents tend to underestimate the amount of time it will take to reach their objectives. On average, Waterwaze swimmers take about 8 months to achieve safety in deep water. Keep in mind that swim instructors are like contractors- cheap is expensive. In the long run, you always get what you pay for.

Yet again, we resort to the short, ambiguous answer that no one likes -‘it depends’. In order to gain some clarity on this, you need to know what your goals are. It’s important to give lessons a fair chance in the beginning, especially with a child who’s nervous. There are so many variables that take time to get used to. It’s a new pool, a new instructor, and a new environment without gravity. It’s a big transition! Most kids need time to adapt. The first lesson is not necessarily an indicator of what your child’s swimming journey will look like. Sometimes you have a kid who’s fearful. Maybe they just have a super cautious personality, or perhaps they had an unpleasant experience with the water that caused them to develop a resistance to the pool. After teaching close to a thousand swimmers, we have found that fear of water doesn’t just fade away or vanish as they get older. If anything, it gets worse as they get smarter and begin to understand all the potential ‘risks’ of learning to swim, such as getting water in their nose, choking, not being able to touch the floor, and falling to the bottom of the deep.

A few years ago, we had an extremely nervous child who came to learn how to swim. His progress was slow, and after 3 lessons, the mom decided to put the whole thing on hold. A week later she called to tell us that her kid had suddenly gotten comfortable after being in the pool a few more times and could she please have her slot back. Unfortunately, there were no slots left. Recently we had a mom call to sign up her 8-year-old daughter, who could barely float. The mother had thought that if she waited, she’d make some progress on her own. Fast forward a year, and the child is no further after being in the pool every day for the whole summer.

In our program, if we see that a child is nervous, we purposely take it easy for the first few lessons to give them a chance to adapt. It’s a tricky balance. On one hand, you’re spending all this money on lessons and want to see your child progress. On the other hand, we believe it’s important to develop trust between the swimmer and the instructor before moving forward. With fearful kids, this can sometimes take a while. But if you did your research into the instructor and you’ve already established that they know what they’re doing, please be patient and give them the space to do what they do best. If, between the ages of 3-5, your child is giving you a hard time and you’re not seeing progress, you might choose to take a break. (Remember, progress isn’t always obvious, and just because a kid is moving slowly doesn’t mean he’s not ready.) If they’re still anxious by the time they turn 6, we highly recommend giving them lessons even if they give you a hard time. Oftentimes, parents text me saying, ‘I don’t know what to do. Avi just refuses to get into his bathing suit. I think we should put lessons on hold.’ My response is, ‘What do you do when they refuse to go to school?’ Swimming is a life skill. It’s not a choice. Every child and adult needs to be safe in deep water.

There are two qualities I look for when hiring a potential new instructor. Good instructors understand hydrodynamics and how to guide a child step by step toward safety in the deep. It is equally important that they know how to deal with kids. In our instructor course, we have entire sections devoted to language, phrases not to use, and what to do with fearful and anxious swimmers. These two components are equally important. You can have an instructor with a great eye for correcting a swimmer’s technique, but if they lack the ability to communicate and connect with children, chances are the student won’t get very far in their swimming journey.

Find out how many years they’ve been in the business and get the contact information for previous or current clients. It’s important to ask the references to describe their child’s personality. An impulsive kid with sensory issues will have a vastly different experience than a mainstream kid who’s super athletic. Do not trust an instructor based on an advertisement alone. The instructor should be certified in CPR and first aid and preferably be a lifeguard as well. Being a Red Cross WSI (Water Safety Instructor) doesn’t add any legitimacy to an instructor’s teaching abilities. Aside from myself, none of WWSA’s instructors are WSI certified, but they spend an average of 50 hours training in the Waterwaze Swim Academy methodology, which prioritizes comfort over skill.

Other qualities to look for include (but are not limited to); patience, warmth, love of children, good communication skills, and perhaps my favorite- the ability to get down to a child’s level and be silly.  Some qualifications which have earned our respect right along with Waterwaze Swim Academy Level One certification, include Swimangelfish, Total Immersion, Miracle Swimming, and the Dolfun Swim Academy.

Treading is not the best way to establish a swimmer’s safety. Our definition of a swimmer is one who is safe in deep water. Strokes and learning how to coordinate the arms and legs come only after the swimmer has achieved safety.

Our time-proven deep-water test requires the swimmers to hang out in the deep for 10 minutes. During this time, they can back float, front float, vertical float, swim, flip over on their back, tread, etc. By the end of the ten minutes, if they haven’t gotten exhausted or overwhelmed, we can confidently pronounce them adequately safe in deep water.

I spent a few years at the beginning of my career as a summer Aquatics Director at a local JCC. According to the Department of Health, we were required to administer a deep water test to determine a swimmer’s competency in the pool. Very quickly, I started to notice a dangerous pattern. Many of the campers would successfully complete the test. They needed to swim two laps on their front, two laps on their back, and tread for two minutes. What disturbed me was that as soon as they finished, they’d frantically grab the wall where they had to rest, catch their breath, or maybe climb out of the pool to recover. At our next staff meeting, I made it clear to the lifeguards that just because a camper technically passed the test- this did not mean that they should be let loose in the deep. Any child who looked fatigued after taking the test was told they would have to retake it another day. This begs the question. If treading doesn’t prove a child’s safety- why is it considered the standard by most camps and swim schools?

I’ve given this a lot of thought and come up with a few possible reasons. The lifeguards who are hired to administer the deep water tests aren’t necessarily qualified to be able to differentiate if a kid is calm or not. And even if they’re told to look out for this- it’s a big responsibility to give to a teenager. In addition, camps don’t have the time or resources to spend 10 minutes testing each child. I believe if they actually gave Waterwaze’s version of the deep-water test, about 50 percent of kids wouldn’t pass and would therefore be safer over the course of the summer. Some people might look like they’re swimming, but they’re what we call ‘mobile drowners’. They’re just moving across the pool while thrashing their arms and legs, intent on getting to the wall or side. No one ever
thought to question the current system, and it’s possible  there are lifeguards who can’t do it either. If your child can’t stop calmly in the middle of the pool, he is not safe.

If you’re not confident in your child’s skills, you can have their swim instructor test them, or you can have them do it next time you’re in the water together, so you can breathe easier knowing that they’re safe in other pools.

For those who aren’t aware, a puddle jumper is a one-piece swim vest for toddlers with arm floaties attached to a chest band that clicks around their back. Most puddle jumpers are coast guard approved and designed to keep the child’s face out of the water. (We are not going to discuss water wings which should never be used as they pose a massive safety concern- the wearer can easily tip forward and face plant with no means to get themselves back upright to breath.) There are two dangerous misconceptions about puddle jumpers that need to be addressed.

Misconception #1: Puddle jumpers will help my child learn to swim and can save money on swimming lessons. Misconception #2: Puddle jumpers allow me leeway when it comes to supervising my child in the pool because they are safe as long as they’re wearing them.

To clarify; puddle jumpers position your child upright in the water, which isn’t the correct or hydrodynamically efficient position for swimming—it’s a drowning position, not the life-saving, horizontal position swimmers use when floating on their backs. Puddle jumpers intentionally prevent your child’s face from going in the water. So even though they can move their arms and legs to get themselves from point A to point B, they are usually not comfortable having their face
submerged- a prerequisite to learning how to swim. I’ve had countless parents tell me that their kid knows how to swim- in the deep, no less! Turns out they were just paddling around in a puddle jumper. This creates multiple problems when these children show up for lessons. The young student has zero sense of safety when entering the pool and will just jump in, thinking that they will stay afloat. I vividly recall an incident that occurred over 20 years ago where I was lifeguarding for a family friend on their vacation, and one of their nieces (who happened to be on the spectrum) arrived at the pool without her mother, who had told me her daughter knew how to swim. The girl jumped in the pool and immediately started to flounder. She was close enough for me to grab her, take her out, and instruct her to stay in the shallow. Less than five minutes later, she had somehow made her way into the deep again. This time I had to jump in to rescue her. A short while later, the mom came out with her water wings and casually mentioned how she never goes in the water without them. I recently had a mom who has a pool in her backyard bring her daughter for her first lesson. The child proceeded to climb into the pool and just let go of the side, immediately going under. I helped her grab the wall and explained that if she lets go, the water will go over her face. She wasn’t thrilled about being told what to do and tried to ‘escape’ by letting go again. At that point, she had a total meltdown, and mom decided to call it quits right then and there and never came back. Aside from the obvious need for some guidance in parenting, this could have been avoided. Make an effort to spend 10-15 minutes each pool session teaching your child to hold onto the pool ledge (and make sure they understand what the consequences are if they let go) and ‘traveling’ from one end to another. You should also devote some time to having them get comfortable with water on their face either by doing heavy pours or by gently dipping them under the surface or allowing their face to submerge when they jump in. Additionally, refrain from putting your child back into a puddle jumper or similar swim aid after they have learned to swim because the devices can often undo all the time and energy that you’ve invested in their water safety.
Parents are often under the impression that as long as their child is wearing a puddle jumper, they don’t need strict supervision. You may throw your kid in with a floatie and think, ‘Oh, that’s all they need.’ The false sense of security that puddle jumpers give to parents is a risk that’s potentially life-threatening. Parental supervision is the first line of defense in drowning prevention. There needs to be a designated ‘pool watcher’ who will have their eyes on the pool no matter what. Aside from having one phone available in case of emergency, all devices should be left in the car. I have heard multiple stories of parents who have taken off puddle jumpers as they’re leaving the pool area only to look away for a moment- and somehow, the child escapes and ends up in the pool. Best case scenario, someone gets to them before they realize what hit them. In a worse (but not the worst) case scenario the child has a traumatic experience which can impact them for the rest of their lives. Puddle jumpers serve a purpose. If you have more than one child who you’re responsible for, you’ve got your hands full, or you don’t consider yourself a strong swimmer, using a puddle jumper can ease a substantial amount of stress and anxiety. But don’t fool yourself into believing that having your child wear a puddle jumper is accomplishing something it’s not.

Next week we’ll talk about how to identify if an instructor is pushing your child too far.

Swimming lessons are different than every other extracurricular activity in the sense that there is a real opportunity to cause lifelong damage. Art classes, dance lessons, and gymnastics don’t come with the same high-risk. Therefore, it’s imperative you do proper research before signing your children up to learn how to swim.

• Some red flags to look out for:
  If a swim school ‘guarantees’ the student will learn to swim in 10 lessons (or any other definitive number). This is especially concerning if they’ve never laid eyes on the child.
• If the instructor doesn’t go in the pool or is obviously avoiding getting their face or hair wet they are obviously not committed to seeing your child learn in the most efficient way possible.
• If you don’t see obvious progress in the first few sessions. I’ve had parents tell me it took their children months to learn to put their face in the water. Although there are those with extreme anxiety who may take more time, this is highly unusual.
• If you don’t see progress and the instructor isn’t having an open discussion with you about the specific steps being taken towards achieving the swimmer’s goals. I go over my instructor’s clients with them on a weekly basis. If a student is ‘stuck’ on any skill for more than two weeks, it means we need to take a different approach. Often, there’s a conversation that needs to be had with the parent. For example: Do you think this is a behavioral issue? Perhaps this is an OT concern? Do we need to discuss a better way to motivate the student? Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
• Be very wary of the use of kickboards, puddle jumpers, or any flotation device in the context of a swim lesson. At Waterwaze we believe that swimmers must feel the water holding them up in order to progress. Noodles and life jackets give the student a false sense of how the water works, which can severely impede their progress and create a false sense of security in the water.
• Any instructor who doesn’t spend time getting your child comfortable with their face in. You cannot swim correctly or comfortably with your face out of the water. Basic hydrodynamics dictates that anytime you take a limb or body part out of the water, it causes you to sink. With the rare exception of those with excess body fat to help keep them afloat, most peoplewill have difficulty swimming with their head out of the water. You might be fooled into thinking progress is being made when your child is really being held back by skipping this critical first step.
• Any instructor who throws a kid into the deep end without their consent or forces them to do anything that they can’t independently recover from should be banned from the industry.
• If the instructor is teaching more than two children at once (assuming that they are not safe in deep water yet) and there’s no lifeguard on deck, I would be cautious. It’s sometimes difficult to keep track of students in a group lesson, and unfortunately, accidents do happen.
  Over the years, I’ve heard more than my fair share of horror stories. Parents often tell me how they signed up for whatever was most convenient and then had to pay thousands of dollars to repair the damage done by inexperienced or uneducated instructors. When hiring a swim instructor, please don’t take the cheap and easy way out. Remember to think about the long-term big picture. What looks like a bargain today might end up being a costly mistake you can’t afford to make when it comes to your child’s future.

Next week we’ll go into more detail on the ongoing debate about puddle jumpers. Are they really safe?

Stay wet and stay safe!

There is a tremendous increase in awareness when it comes to children and sensory integration. However, there is not enough education about how it may affect their pool time. There are two ways kids with sensory processing issues respond to sensory input. When kids underreact to sensory input, they may seek out more input. They are often called sensory seekers. When kids overreact to input, they become overwhelmed and may avoid the input. Many children have never been diagnosed and may not display any significant symptoms on land, but as soon as they enter the water, it becomes obvious immediately. If an instructor isn’t equipped with the tools to address sensory issues, it can impede the student’s progress. In addition, they frequently mistake it for a behavioral issue which can lead to a power struggle. A good swim instructor knows how to help their students focus. We understand that our students are sometimes coming from a long day of sitting at a desk and need to be given input to help them concentrate.

To understand what your child might be experiencing, let’s describe what our sensory kids are feeling when they are in the pool. Sensory seekers love the water. Their body is getting what it craves – constant sensory stimulation. They like to splash, hit the water, and jump in. They love being under the water- the pressure feels like a strong hug and releases serotonin (a feel-good hormone). It can be hard to get them to follow directions because they are so distracted by the input they’re getting. Swimmers who are sensory avoidant do not like the water at all. They especially dislike water on their face and have a hard time wearing goggles. I’ve had older students describe the sensations as needles pricking them. Others say that it’s just extremely unpleasant. If this describes your child, the worst thing you can do is enable this behavior. We’ve had 6 and 7 year old students who never had water on their face while bathing because their parents didn’t want them to be uncomfortable. They’ll allow them to wash their face with a washcloth and always have a towel nearby in case water gets in their eyes. Not only does it make our job more difficult (the older the student is, the more of a fuss they put up) but you’re doing your child a massive disservice.
In order to function in the world, everyone should be okay getting water on their face. Are you ok with your child having a meltdown every time they get splashed? Or go into the sprinkler? Or take a shower? Or having a water balloon fight? Prevent this by making sure the child is getting constant exposure to water on their face. Do at least 3 heavy pours per bath. Teach them to use their hands to get water out of their eyes. Do not allow them to dry their face with a towel while they are bathing (unless it’s to get soap out). One trick that works wonders is using your hand to do a ‘hard wipe’ on your child’s face immediately after it gets wet. You can also train your child to do this to themselves. While doing this you can sing ‘we’re gonna wipe that icky feeling away’. They will get better with time (usually 2-3 weeks) if it’s done properly.

All Waterwaze instructors are trained in the Swim Angelfish method. This program was specially designed to cater to children with severe to mild sensory issues, problems with motor skills, difficulty processing information, attention issues, or any other condition that might physically or psychologically hinder the process of learning to swim. Swim Angelsfish offers free webinars for parents and their website is a great resource with lots of helpful information. Regardless if your child is a sensory seeker or sensory avoidant, swimming lessons are an excellent form of therapy for them. Although we implement aquatherapy techniques in all our lessons, we differ from aquatic therapists in that our primary goal is teaching the student to swim versus addressing any OT or PT concerns. A qualified instructor knows how to balance sensory needs with swimming skills, creating the perfect environment for the child to perform at their best.

Next week we’ll talk about why your kids need swimming lessons if you don’t have a pool and never go swimming.

Stay wet and stay safe!

So you did your research, found a potential instructor, and signed up for swimming lessons. Your child is making progress, and generally speaking, you’re happy. Here’s where it gets tricky. Sometimes, you notice the instructor pushing your child, and something about it makes you uncomfortable. You feel stuck. You don’t want to come across as a helicopter parent, and the instructor says they know what they’re doing…maybe you should just let it go. They’re the experts, after all, and you want your child to progress. 

At the risk of repeating myself, swimming is one of the few activities where there is potential to cause permanent damage. Remember, you are the only advocate your child has. Be wary of instructors who consistently ignore your child’s anxieties and don’t treat them with compassion when they freak out about doing something that’s scary for them. An instructor’s job is to address a student’s fears and find a way to recreate and expand their comfort zone to include what they previously may not have been able to tolerate in small, doable steps. There are some swimmers that need to be pushed- but it should always be done in a way that includes kindness, empathy, care, and of course- fun! If an instructor’s method of getting a child to do something they don’t like is to just force them to do it over and over, you can make it clear that you’re not okay with that and you would rather they take a more gentle approach. 

Your child should not be in physical pain of any sort, including but not limited to – frequently gasping for air, constantly drinking pool water, sneezing (a reaction to getting water into the nasal passage), vomiting, or choking. I am not saying that if a swimmer gets water in their nose once in a while when learning a new skill that it’s grounds to fire the instructor. You need to be able to take a step back and identify if your child is really in distress or if it’s actually a behavioral issue. We find parents can get blindsided by their child’s manipulative tactics- some of them will do anything to avoid doing what they don’t want to do. These kids are the exception. Generally speaking, a good instructor can address this in a way that doesn’t induce a power struggle. But regardless of your child’s tendencies, there should always be clear communication between the instructor and the parent. If you’re not okay with something occurring in the lesson, you have every right to voice your concern. A qualified instructor should have an immediate reasonable explanation and be open to hearing where you’re-coming from after all, you know your child best. 

Next week we’ll talk about what to do differently if your child has sensory issues.

Stay wet and stay safe!

Answering this question from the perspective of a swim school owner seems like a conflict of interest. After 20 years in the field and teaching over a thousand students, I have a unique perspective on how swimming lessons can contribute to a child’s quality of life. The right instructor teaches much more than just swimming. The student learns how to focus, follow directions, and regulate themselves. They walk away feeling confident and accomplished, with the capacity to do things that previously seemed terrifying, impossible, and completely beyond their ability. But instead of going on about the intangible benefits, let’s consider the more obvious repercussions of children not learning to swim. 

Unless you plan to have your child at home all year round and keep them trapped in a bubble of safety, they will be exposed to pools and water activities. Water parks, beaches, boating trips, riverside hikes, fishing, kayaking, and pool parties. Then of course, there’s the obvious one- summer camp. Many camps don’t offer quality instruction, and the shallow ends are often overcrowded. Not much fun in that. And at the risk of sounding like a helicopter parent, not all camp lifeguards are up to the standards you would want for your child’s supervision. I have interviewed lifeguards who, when tested, didn’t have basic swimming skills (let alone competency in saving lives). It’s important to note that I don’t think children need to have a perfect breaststroke or front crawl. However, they must be deep water safe. Strokes can be dealt with later. 

Waterwaze Swim Academy specializes in adults who have a fear of water. One common denominator is that 98% of them have one or both parents who don’t swim. Keep this in mind if you’re not comfortable in deep water and your children can’t swim. Your fear often gets passed down unintentionally. I have personally observed families that demonstrate fear of the water that is handed down for generations. Statistics also tell us that when an adult parent doesn’t know how to swim, the children in that household only have a 19% chance of learning to swim themselves. Most of our adult students say that their parents tried to get them lessons, and they were unsuccessful because the instructor didn’t understand them. They tend to have an underlying feeling of regret that they didn’t learn earlier – before their fear became a part of their identity. If your child is having a hard time, it might be time to look for another swim school. 

If your primary concern is the expense, it may behoove you to reevaluate the other programs your child is signed up for. There’s tremendous value in gymnastics, drawing class, and martial arts. But of all the extracurricular activities marketed towards kids, swimming is the only one that could potentially save your child’s life. 

Stay wet and stay safe!