The Swimming Expert

QUESTION

Hello my name is J and I have an enquiry about swimming for young children. I live in the country and I have two children ages 4 & 6 and both have been doing swimming lessons for the last two years.  Both children are very strong swimmers but the swim programme they are in never seems to place them in the appropriate lessons for their skill.  My 6 year old is in a class two levels below her ability but because there aren’t any places in lessons she is meant to be in, she stays in the same class.  With my 4 year old there are 6 children in the class and he probably spends half the class sitting at the edge of the pool whilst other kids with less ability get more attention from instructors.

I have looked into private lessons for them both but they are not offered where I live.  What would be my next step in ensuring they get adequate swim lessons to further develop their potential?  Is it suitable to put at least the 6 year old into a club where she will receive adequate training, and how old do children need to be before they can join a squad?

I look forward to your response. Regards J

ANSWER

Hi J, Thank you for your email. You have asked a number of complex questions so I will deal with them one at a time.

If your 6 year old is still in a class two levels below her ability you need to ask the supervisor at the swim school to assess her and if she should be up one or two levels, ask when a day and time may be available to help her progression.  Ask also if they have a waiting list for current customers for the class level she needs to go into.

With your 4 year old, 6 children in a class is not uncommon.  There is a large demand for swimming lessons in every area throughout Australia at the moment and many swim schools have maximum numbers of 5 or 6 pupils in a class.  It may be worth mentioning to the supervisor your observations that they spend alot of time on the side as there are ways swim teachers can teach multiple children at the same time for some of the class.

Depending on what your local club offers, your 6 year old may be still young yet to take part in club squads and I would recommend a focus on moving her up a group or two in the swim school first to ensure she learns all the skills required to be a squad swimmer later on.

You may have already done a few of the things I have listed above and I would encourage you to follow them up again if this is the case.

QUESTION:

When starting to teach children freestyle arms and breathing could I please have your opinion whether we should teach 2,3 or 4 arms.

Is there any reason why all swimmers should bilateral breath? Or can they breath two & four strokes and  be just as strong and smooth in the water as a bilateral swimmer?  Any feedback back would be greatly appreciated.  Regards K

ANSWER:

Hi K, When teaching children freestyle I believe when armstrokes are introduced that 4 strokes is a good number to start with.  The reason for this is that it will often take them one, two or even three strokes to get the stroke pattern right each time.  If they only do 2 or 3 strokes they may struggle to do it correctly or make any necessary changes in just a few strokes.  I would also just practice 4 strokes with the right arm OR 4 strokes with the left arm initially before beginning a combination of one arm after the other.

In regards to breathing, I believe that they should learn to breath on both sides.

Drill 1: An initial drill would be freestyle kick with the board with the right hand holding the board and left hand by their side.  Ask them to do freestyle kick whilst blowing out bubbles and then turn their head to the left side to breath in and then turn it back down, then repeat each time they need a breath.  This can also be done with the left hand holding the board and breathing on the right hand side.

Drill 2: A similar drill can be used next with the right hand holding the board out in front and the left hand sitting out in front under the board, ready to pull through.  Every time the child needs a breath they should begin an armstroke with their left hand and turn to breath on their left side and then place their head back into the water until they need another breath in.  This can be practised on both sides of the body too so that the child learns to breath equally on both sides.

Drill 3: Single arm freestyle is a good drill to do next.  This can be done initially with the left arm and breathing on the left hand side and then with the right arm breathing on the right hand side.

When a child starts swimming at least 15 to 25 metres freestyle, they should learn to breath with various breathing patterns.  This includes breathing every 4 strokes, both on the left hand side and the right hand side.

It also means introducing breathing every 3 strokes so that they learn to alternate which side they breath. Bilateral breathing is a good skill for swimmers to be able to do as it teaches them to rotate equally on both sides of the body and to breath on both sides. It also means that if they choose (or their teacher/coach chooses) to breath on one side only, they can put in a 3 stroke breath every now and then to see what is happening on the other side of the pool.

Over time young children will like one breathing pattern over another.  Some will choose breathing every 3, others will choose every 2 or 4 (I prefer breathing every 4 for young children as it helps them to keep their head still rather than moving it all the time, and also helps to build up their lung capacity and breath control) and some will do a combination eg 4 4 3 3 4 4 where they will do a majority of breaths on the one side but still stick some 3′s in every now and then to provide balance.

Overall, a swimmer who breaths on one side can be just and strong and smooth as a swimmer who breaths bilaterally so it is worth teaching an experimenting over time with both.

Regards

Gary