Swimming Lessons 18 Months On

It's been 18 months now since the kids started their first swimming lessons and they're making such good progress. The little boy has moved up 2 or 3 levels now and is learning the basic strokes. He can float unaided and is doing his best with his free style. We notice that although he kicks well enough he seems to lose his puff after only a meter or two of paddling. But, he has utterly no fear of the water. He constantly goes under water and would even do an underwater somersault for us. He would sometimes dive and kick his feet over the water and come up grinning at us just proud of what he just did.

The girl is halfway through the swimming levels now and practicing her backstroke and freestyle over the deep end of the pool. They're now doing laps over a 10 meter stretch and making sure they do the correct strokes. I'm quite impressed as I think she keeps good form and swims quite fast. She used to be a bit afraid of the deep end but just this morning she declared that she wasn't anymore. I sometimes joke with her that she's actually a better swimmer than I am. Come to think of it, I never really had a proper swimming lessson. All I had was childhood afternoons spent at the beach just down the road from our house.

At any rate, I think giving the kids swimming lessons is a good thing. Now, we don't really have to be too anxious about them being in the water, whether in the pool or at the beach. We know they can handle themselves well enough. Although it would be some time before we find ourselves at the beach again now that the cold weather is starting.