How to know when your child is a competent swimmer
How to know when your child is a competent swimmer
Water competency is often misinterpreted by parents and guardians as their child being able to jump into a swimming pool and being able to put their face in the water. The reality is very different.
Learning to jump into a swimming pool is an important safety skill that children often achieve in the early stages of their learning to swim journey, as it is one of the outcomes in the Pre-School Framework.
This skill mimics the motion of falling into water and so it is important for helping swimmers get used to not panicking and also getting themselves to the side safely.
However, there are many other water safety and survival skills that a child needs to learn before they are safe in water, such as floating and treading water.
So, when can you be sure that a child is water competent, rather than just showing confidence in the water?
Swim England’s minimum water competency standards give parents and guardians a clear set of skills that children should achieve before a child stops swimming lessons. The four competencies are:
- Perform a star float for at least 60 seconds
- Tread water for at least 30 seconds
- Have experience of swimming in clothing
- Swim at least 100 metres with ease and without stopping
Research from Swim England has found that more than 70% of children are being taken out of lessons before they have learnt key skills that would mean they are safe in the water.
Swim England strongly recommends, where possible, that parents and carers keep children in swimming lessons until they have completed Learn to Swim Stages 1 to 7, as a minimum.
By this point children will have achieved all four of the minimum standards for water competency and will be much safer were they to get into trouble than a child who hasn’t demonstrated these skills.
At Norwich Swan swimmers can achieve stages 1-5 in our 30 min Learn to Swim lessons, before moving to our Cygnet squad.
To book a place in swimming lessons please fill in our contact form here: https://uk.gomotionapp.com/team/reczznssc/page/learn-to-swim/learn-to-swim
Cygnet squad is a bridging squad between Learn to Swim lessons and a coached training session, before swimmers can move on to our Development squads. We cover stages 6 and 7 and beyond in Cygnet squad, to ensure our swimmers are really competent and can be safe in and around water. We recommend continuing with swimming until Cygnet squad is finished as a minimum.
Beyond Cygnet squad we offer both competitive and fitness swimming options.
