All parents have a limited amount of resources whether that includes time or money or family support. If our daughter had her way, she’d probably be in every sport and activity. But we don’t have unlimited resources. So we have to prioritize.
My husband and I have often talked about making swimming a priority and the number 1 reason is drowning is a leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 8. While I’m still trying to figure out this parenting thing, I think one principle of parenting that is probably indisputable: Keep the Kid Alive! With that in mind, Vee has been in swimming classes since she was four months old.
In general my husband I are are indifferent to sports as long as our daughter has some form of fitness. For a while, she was obsessed with soccer until she wasn’t. Then she was obsessed with basketball. Until she wasn’t. Then back to soccer. Those are great forms of fitness. But we aren’t negotiable on swimming. Swimming provides prevention against drowning which can threaten us at any point in our lives. It’s a critical skill that I didn’t have when I arrived at Marine Corps boot camp. And it’s a skill that Vee’s paternal grandmother still doesn’t hasn’t mastered. It’s a skill we want our daughter to have. She will likely not be a champion swimmer. She’s probably going to be too short. But we don’t mind.
Swimming is also a great lifetime fitness skill. Please feel free to post comments, but my understanding is that unlike other sports that destroy the body, swimming is kinetically kind to our body and allows us to maintain a lifetime of fitness without damaging joints or causing injuries. So we have dedicated a lot of time and energy to establishing her as a swimmer.
As a Marine, I helped train some folks who struggled with swimming. One of the techniques we used to help establish confidence is wearing a wetsuit. It’s important to understand that a wetsuit is not the same as a U.S. Coast Guard certified life preserver. The advantage to a wetsuit is buoyancy. While it won’t help you swim, it does allow you to float higher while you try to figure it out.
Step 1 – Get a wetsuit and learn to blow bubbles and bob. The focus at this stage is to ensure breathing out while under and in while on top of the water. Although this seems obvious, intellectually. It’s something you want your body to do automatically and effortlessly. Whenever your face feels air, beathe in.
Step 2, spread your body out like a 5-star starfish and float. You can do this in as little as 10 inches of water. Even a backyard wading pool. Just gain the confidence and knowledge that if you get tired or get out where you aren’t okay, you can roll over on your back and breathe easy.
Step 3, convert your floating on your back into slow smooth movement for a backstroke.
Build up endurance with the backstroke
Use tools like a floating barbell to practice swimming freestyle strokes. These take a while to get the hang of. It’s complicated. Don’t give up. Keep trying. Deep water is not required. It’s fine to try this in water where you can touch the bottom. It’s better if you can touch the bottom. And use the wetsuit to help stay up.
Work on other complicated strokes like the breaststroke.
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