Tagged with ' Parents Of Swimmers'

Starting swimming lessons can be a daunting task, even for the grown adult. But it is important for every child to know water survival skills as well as how to swim and keep them safe around water. Here is an age-by-age guide on swimming lessons for kids so you know what to expect and when it is best for you to get your children into swimming.

Whether you swim recreationally or competitively, jumping into the pool is an exciting event that you don't want to wait around to get in! While chlorine’s harsh effects on the scalp get all the attention, it turns out that pool chemicals may be equally unkind to your skin if you’re not careful. Here's why you should use swim care products before and after a swim.

With the warm weather now in full swing, everyone is excited to have some fun in the sun at the swimming pool with their little ones. But before you jump in the water, it is crucial to prioritise pool safety for your children to let you have a more joyful and accident-free swimming experience.

Water safety is very important for children to learn from a young age due to the risk of accidents and even drowning. It is one of the only sports you can teach your child that can save their life. 

Drowning is one of the top causes of accidental deaths in children, so being able to swim is an essential skill, not only for your child to exercise and socialise with friends but also so they can survive if they accidentally fall in the water. 

Swimming is fun! It’s a great form of exercise that is fun for all ages, so it is much easier to get a child to learn. Swimming is also an accessible sport for children, regardless of age and ability, and can be a key form of exercise for children with additional needs. It can have the advantage of making your child more self-confident, and to make friends. 

Swimming keeps your child’s heart and lungs healthy. Swimming works out the whole body, helping to improve their strength and flexibility, as well as their posture and stamina. Swimming has many health benefits that work for all different muscle groups and help to promote a healthy life if your child is introduced to swimming at a younger age. This can also help to increase their confidence in the water and be able to keep themselves safe with more knowledge and experience.

Swimming is also a great sport to meet new friends and work on team building, allowing your child to learn new social skills and helping them build a team atmosphere. Swimmers learn to support and help each other from their shared experiences in the pool, often making great friendships for life. A positive atmosphere and team skills are skills that can be carried through life. 

Swimming also helps your child to learn self-motivation and goal setting, to push themselves to learn more skills, and to be more confident in the water. Swimming ties teamwork and individuality into one sport.

Swimming is also a sport you can have for life if you teach your child how to swim from a young age. The skill is forever with them and is something they can take with them as they get older. Since swimming is a low-impact sport, it is a hugely popular and safe option for older adults, unlike other sports which can risk falling, swimming is good for the joints and is great for people of all levels.

At Proswimwear, we have a large variety of swimming costumes for children, ranging from performance swimwear to training swimwear. We also have training aids to help support your child in learning how to swim. Make sure to check them out! 

https://www.proswimwear.co.uk/swimming-accessories/swimming-training-aids.html

https://www.proswimwear.co.uk/kids-swimwear.html

It is important to enrol your child into swimming lessons not only for their safety but for their confidence. It is a sport that is a lot of fun for people of all ages, and children love getting in the water and enjoying themselves. It helps keep your child’s heart and lungs healthy, improves strength and flexibility, increases stamina and can even improve posture and balance. 

The Essentials

What would be considered essentials? A swimsuit and towel. We know this sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how frequently people forget these two! Make sure you always have these packed in your child’s swim bag to make sure you don’t forget them. Other items to go in your swim bag could be a pair of footwear for those kids that don’t like the cold tiles beside the pool and a water bottle to make sure your child stays hydrated. Wet bags are also essential. They are useful for keeping damp items separate from the rest of your belongings after a swim, such as your goggles and swimsuit.

For kids with long hair, hairbands are another essential. They don’t want their long hair getting in the way whilst swimming. To ensure hair stays out the way while they swim, you could also pack a swim cap to make sure none of those loose strands gets in the way and is tucked away. 

Struggle to keep your eyes open in the water? Swim goggles are also important! This will help you swim through the water without worrying about chlorine getting in your eyes and allow you to swim until your heart's content. Swim goggles are especially useful for the first swim lesson to help your child see clearly in the water.

Are you taking your baby to their first-ever adult and child lesson? Make sure you pack swim nappies. Swim nappies fit nice and snug which reduces the water that gets into the nappy.

It’s nice to have: 

If your child isn’t completely confident in the water, kickboards could be the perfect assistants to keep them above the water and having fun. They can also be used to play fun games.

You could also help your child feel more comfortable in the pool by bringing a waterproof toy, this can help your child feel safe and reassured as swimming can often be a daunting task for the first time. Pool toys are perfect for fun games such as throwing and chasing the toys or simply playing catch, both of which could help your child improve their confidence in the pool. 

Shampoo and body wash is also a nice touch to bring for your child, at Proswimwear we have SoCozy products such as a Swim 3 in 1 (Shampoo, Conditioner and Body Wash). Even though the showers are equipped with liquid soap, it is nice for your child to have their own body gel and shampoo to wash themselves with. Chlorine sucks the natural oils from your hair and skin, leaving them dry, rough, and damaged. Chlorine can also cause chemical reactions in your hair, changing the natural colour of your hair, weakening each hair strand, and causing split ends, therefore it is appropriate to have the correct products to combat this. 

https://www.proswimwear.co.uk/brands/socozy.html

It is important to wash after a swimming lesson to help reduce dry skin afterwards, and if your child is prone to this, it could be recommended to use lotion as well. It is also a nice touch to blow dry your child’s hair after the lesson to make sure that they are nice and dry when leaving the building and that they feel refreshed for the day. 

After the swimming lesson, you could also give your child a snack, as moving through the water makes you tired and hungry, and so their energy levels could be low afterwards. Fruit is also a great way to recover after a swim as it provides the body with a good source of vitamins and minerals. Make sure they get their five a day! 

Overall, it may be daunting as a parent taking your child to their first swimming lesson, but it is important to remember that they are in the safe hands of the instructor and that it is an essential skill for them to learn for their safety.

https://www.proswimwear.co.uk/swimming-accessories.html

As race season is fastly approaching, it’s easy to get distracted by your child who is a confident swimmer that is preparing for the races, but what about your younger child that is still frightened of the water and is not confident in themselves? Here are some hints/tricks to help improve their confidence in the water.

Getting familiar with the water

For babies and toddlers, early swimming experience can be hit or miss, some children downright refusing to get into the water. The key is not to push the child to get into the water but to slowly introduce them to it. Take little steps with your little one, gradually getting them closer to the water. From sitting at the side of the pool to dipping their toes in the water, without taking them out of their comfort zone. Take your time to let them get comfortable with the sight of the water before they approach it.

Distract them from their fear

Think about what your child loves to play with, in the bath. Squirty toys? Floating ducks? Transfer these to your local swimming pool and get a family member to play with them enthusiastically - or your little one might want to join you! For children, water pistols provide an unprecedented level of excitement - especially when they receive an over-exaggerated reaction to being soaked. Pop one in their hands, ask them to gently squirt a willing victim, and stealthily move your child down a pool step further in the water.

Letting go - floating with buoyancy aids

When you’re in the pool with your child, they’ll happily splash around with the safety of your arms holding them. Let them build their confidence with this. Swish them around in the water, sing songs and nursery rhymes to get them feeling comfortable and happy. When you know they are ready (normally shortly after their first pool experience or weeks after), the next step is to let them float in the water, away from your arms. Buoyancy aids such as armbands and float vests will help your child float around in the water safely and independently. This should make the transition fun and easy.

Keep in mind, small babies do not have the control or stability that of an older child to float by themselves unsupported. If your child is under one or between 1-2 years old, make sure they have full support in the water.

Don’t forget to praise your child as they make progress. Never underestimate the encouragement that you give them. The cheers, compliments and support will have great power on their growing confidence.

Getting their faces wet

Even confident water-babies can find the thought of getting their faces wet, or putting them underwater, unappealing. If your child really hates getting wet, you should try to slowly familiarise them with water with games in the bath. When you’re in the pool why not help them become more confident when submerging their face by challenging them to a water-blowing contest? Just ask your child to blow bubbles on the surface of the water and make it fun. Goggles can help to encourage your child's underwater confidence while Dive Toys provide them with the incentive to take a peek underwater on the pool floor.

Building their swim confidence with pool games

Pool games are a great way for building both confidence and a love for swimming in the water. Go for themes you know your child will be excited by. This could be a mermaid game where they collect their shells from points around the pool. Chasing, racing, and dive games always prove popular and most children love to play with the inflatable animals as well as the foam noodles!

Let your imagination run wild to increase the fun in the pool!

Don’t forget at Proswimwear, we have a large range of swimming aids to help your child in the water including kickboards, floatation devices such as armbands, and fun pool toys to increase your child's curiosity and confidence in the water.

Proswimwear Training Aids 

https://www.proswimwear.co.uk/swimming-accessories/swimming-training-aids.html?product_list_limit=60

Ah, it’s that time. The first swim meet. It’s easy to look back at the good old days, where expectations were low and we were just happy that the kids made it from one side of the pool to the other. Many new swim team parents enter the world of competitive swimming, with no point of reference of what to expect. What they’re expecting is often far different than their first swim team experience…  

What swim team parents expect at first swim meet

You wake up early, eat breakfast with the family and then head to the pool. There are lots of nerves in the car, but everyone is happy, excited for the new experience. 

While your child warms up to prepare to swim, you find a comfy spot in the spectator area. Thankfully, there’s lots of leg space, so you can spread out and get comfortable. While waiting for the warm up to end, you text your friends, sort out some work. How long would it take for your child to be ready? 

About 30 minutes later, your child walks up behind the blocks and searches for you in the crowd, you can’t help but beam with pride. 

The starter blows the whistle, and they shoot off like a rocket and swim a fast length of the pool, touching the wall first. Your child jumps out of the water gleefully, ready for their next race which they also win. 

When both races are finished, your child quickly collects all their belongings and you leave quickly - you weren’t there for longer than an hour, and you get to go back home and catch-up on work, and texting your friends! It was a successful day!

What swim meets are really like 

When you arrive at a swim meet, your child may be after a few more children and not be the first to swim, which can lead to a long time waiting. After scanning the heat sheet, you may realise there are five pages before your child will even reach the water. Be prepared for a long wait. Heat 2 is in the water and your child is in heat 4. They should be getting their goggles on soon, but they’re just standing there.

Finally, your child is lined up behind the blocks. Your child’s gaze is fixed on something off in the distance. Heat 2 has just finished racing and they are watching other kids swing around their goggles and laugh along with them. 

The starter calls your child up to heat 4 and all the other swimmers to take their blocks. Your child is still laughing at his newfound friends and you shout to them, but they can’t hear. The beep goes off and your child looks at the scoreboard, then down at his arm, before they realise something is wrong. The coach then finds them to tell them they have missed their event.

Your child feels deflated. Another hour passes before their next race. This time, the coach has reminded them to pay attention to the blocks. This time, they are ready to race. 

Make sure your child is prepared to race by the time they walk up to their block for their race to avoid missing their event. When they step up onto their block, make sure they are prepared and wearing their goggles before they dive into the water to avoid any delays.

Don’t forget extra swimwear and accessories- avoid those malfunctions

It’s Friday and you learn that your meeting is on Saturday morning. This is when you realise your children’s goggles broke in practice and you have no replacements. Now you rush around frantically, hoping to get to the pool even earlier in search of goggles. You head off to the meeting, arriving for warm ups and they have spare goggles you can borrow for now.

Your child jumps into the water and comes up almost immediately because the brand new goggles have fallen off or are filled with water. They adjust them back on and swim again, only to come up a few seconds later because their goggles have fallen off again. 

Avoid the malfunctions. When you first go to a meet, you don’t realise that you need spare goggles, caps and swim suits just in case a terrible breakage happens minutes from the next race or your goggle strap snaps just before they're about to dive into the water.

Once you get home, and unpack your child’s bag, you smile to yourself and realise that the whole event is a memory for you both, and it wasn’t as bad as what you previously thought. You then unpack his bag. But one item is missing: their brand new goggles! 

Remember food and drink!

While waiting for your child’s race, it starts to get hot beside the pool. Your child starts to feel tired and less energised as the hours go by waiting for their race. You start to wonder if the fizzy drink and chocolate bar they begged for in the morning was a good idea, as they start to look fatigued and tired at the poolside. Remember to keep up your child’s hydration and energy levels through the proper drink and food that you provide them with before. 

Avoid quick high and low drinks like chocolate bars and sugary drinks. Flavoured water with an electrolyte tablet in is great to keep hydration up and mineral salt balance maintained. Though, you may have a sugary drink as a treat every now and again! 

A great meal the night before the race is slow release carbohydrates, such as rice and pasta, and also on the event day, to make sure your child’s energy is constantly being topped up. Fruit like bananas are also great for this, and if your child prefers a sweet treat, malt loaf is a nice alternative to sweets, and is released slowly in the body, which will help them race to their best ability. It is important to feed your child the correct food, because they will use energy and hydration during the warm up sessions, and whilst playing around the pool side before they even get to their race! 

Overall, swim meets are long, tiring, and often a nervous environment for you and your child. But when our kids are having fun, and making memories, it's worth every second of doubt.

You’d do it again, in a heartbeat!

At Proswimwear, we have all of the equipment, swimwear and training aids that you’d need. Make sure to browse our website to get the very best deals on your child’s prized swimming costumes. Make sure you don’t forget to get a spare pair of goggles!