Cole and I decided to put him in lessons for a couple of reasons. First, he loves the water. He was always asking to "swim" in our bathtub. Second, we planned to frequent the pool often this summer and wanted him to gain a healthy respect for the water and its possible dangers. We also figured lessons would equip him with a few skills he could build on this summer. Lastly, J and I had never done a mommy and me class and I thought this would be a great organized activity that we could do together and both enjoy.
Luckily there is a great swim school in Denver, Starfish Swim School. They focus on aquatic safety skills and recreational and competitive stroke development from beginner to advanced swimmers. Jackson started in their Tiny Bubbles 2 class. Its a class for 1.5 to 3 year olds and requires a parent's participation in the water. From the very beginning, we both loved it! We looked forward to the class each week and it wasn't long before Jackson was mastering the skills and really excelling in the water. We went to Cabo mid-April and by that time he could swim short distances independently. I can't tell you how many people at the resort asked us how old he was. Here was this almost two year old jumping in the water and swimming to us without fear or hesitation. He became well known at the pool and quite the little attraction.
While he could swim short distances, Jackson still wasn't safe in the water. He could only swim as far as he could hold his breath (5-8 feet). To solve this problem, he needed to master rolling over to his back, holding his backfloat while retrieving breath and then rolling over again to continue swimming. He was the only one in his class ready to start learning this skill and I didn't think I could teach it to him. His teacher recommended moving him to private lessons to learn the swim, float, swim technique. She anticipated it would take approximately two weeks of privates for him to figure it out.
We had our first private lesson on July 5th (we were on the wait list for over a month). I was a nervous wreck. I was worried Jackson wouldn't want to swim without me, especially with an instructor he had never met. After all, I stay home with him and there aren't really any activities he and I don't participate in together. Boy was I wrong. He walked right into the pool and introduced himself to his teacher by saying, "Hi Ann. My name is Jackson. Let me show you how I can swim." My mouth about hit the floor! Who was this kid? He was so grown-up and confident and didn't care in the least that I wasn't going with him. I had just given the teacher my whole spill about how timid he might be with someone new and without me in the water. She quickly shot me a look that said you were worried about this kid.
The first lesson went well. Ann concentrated on backfloating since she said it was clear no one had ever made him hold his float (oops I guess thats my fault). She was impressed by how well he swam and said if he just learned to float he would be much safer in the water. To say Jackson didn't like floating that day would be an understatement. He cried the whole time. She was persistent and wouldn't let him swim until he held his float for five seconds. At one point my little charmer said, "I love you Ann can I please swim now?" He may not have liked it but he learned it. By the end of his first class he could float on his own. With all the tears I thought he would never want to go back. Wrong again. He didn't want to leave. When we did he wanted to know when he could swim with Ann again. We went twice a week for the next two weeks (4 private lessons total). He and Ann had a great bond. Jackson loved her and she loved Jackson. She swam him hard each lesson and he couldn't get enough.
He mastered the swim float swim technique with ease. Cole and I are so proud of him! Now he can swim across the pool if he wants. He just dives in swims until he needs a breath, rolls over to get one and then continues swimming. This weekend we were swimming at a private pool with a diving board and he was jumping off into the deep end and swimming to the ladder all by himself! The best part of mastering this skill is the level of safety it affords him in the water. His natural instinct now if he were to fall in the water would be to float on his back for air. On our last day of privates, Ann demonstrated this to me by tossing him randomly and gently in the water. He would fall, completely submerged in the water, kick his feet to the surface and immediately start to float.
At the end of two weeks, Ann pronounced him ready to graduate to the next level of classes. He got a ribbon that said he could back float all by himself and moved up to the Clownfish class. Mommy doesn't get to participate in the clownfish class, just Jackson. It focuses on strengthening the swim float swim skill and improving the child's overall technique in the water. Jackson loves it so far! Swimming is by far his favorite activity. We plan to keep him in the school and let him swim year around as long as he continues to enjoy it. He is learning so much. Most importantly of course is safety. He's also gained confidence and is learning how to participate in a group setting (taking turns, listening to the teacher etc.).
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