What Swimming Lessons Teach Kids Other Than How to Swim

I’m a big fan of physical activity and achievements acting as metaphors for deeper lessons.

 

I know that when I’ve achieved something I doubted I could do – running for longer than I thought I was able, climbing to the top of a mountain, or swimming two more laps than I did the previous week – I’ve felt like I was on top of the world. They are the moments when no one could bring me down, and I’ve been sure I could do anything or handle whatever the world threw my way.

Sure, it’s not rocket science or saving someone’s life, but it’s a great way to boost your confidence.
When it comes to kids and exercise, I am sure the same things apply. They are learning more than just how to run fast or how to walk up a hill or how to swim more laps. They’re even learning more than how to swim with more skill and precision.
What they’re learning is a range of skills that will stand them in good stead for their whole lives.
Here are some of the benefits I believe swimming lessons offer children, other than actually learning how to swim:

• Perseverance
  By its very nature, swimming is a repetitive activity, something that requires practice and the honing of skills in order to improve. And no matter how good you are at it, there is always room for improvement, always the need for more practice. This repetition teaches kids that perseverance and hard work pay off. As the much-loved character Dory says, “Just keep swimming” – keep trying and you’ll get somewhere.
• Self-belief
  Achieving something new, whether it’s a small improvement or a huge milestone, is always a confidence booster. When it comes to swimming, seeing the look on the face of a child who has struggled with something is wonderful – the absolute pride in themselves is worth every moment.
• Fitness
  Of course swimming is one of the best sports that exists, for many reasons including its low impact on joints and the high levels of fitness required. Staying fit and healthy is a great outcome of swimming regularly.
• Learning
  Kids learn through experiences, activities and play. Swimming is a sensory experience – it feels and smells different to anything else they do, as an example of a couple of senses – and there are many other things taught in a swimming lesson, such as counting, coordination and motor skills.
• Water confidence
  More than just the major swimming strokes, lessons will teach kids how to be confident in the water and, more importantly, how to be safe and respect the dangers of the water.
• Listening
  Good listening skills are a must in the pool, and it’s a great way for kids to learn to listen to someone in a position of authority other than a parent, and to learn to trust that person.
• Stress relief
  Kids are sometimes as prone to stress and frustration as adults and it’s important to give them positive outlets for those emotions. Exercise is a great way to release energy, clear your head and calm down, and it also helps to form words around those feelings or to provide some level of clarity.

If you’re considering swimming lessons for your child, it could be helpful to consider all the benefits for them that you might not have thought of. I know that when I started my daughter in swimming lessons as a baby I was told by many that it wasn’t going to teach her anything at that age. It did. It taught her a whole range of skills that are providing a foundation on which to build throughout the rest of her life.
The possibilities for what a child can learn in the pool are endless.