Has the progress your child is making in swim lessons slowed down? Does it seem to you, that he/she is not being pushed enough by their teacher? Are you wondering if the teacher should be more demanding or tougher on your child? 

We have noticed that swim students, especially our younger swim students, will acquire new swim skills and mile-stones in bursts. Right after a quick acquisition of new swim skills, there may be a plateau for a while, followed by another burst of learning. This pattern is normal and should not be viewed as a problem by parents or teachers alike.

The acquisition of new swim skills can be affected by comfort in the water, strength, coordination, ability to focus, maturity, interest, motivation and the emotional climate both inside and outside swim lessons. When the proper level of all these factors is sufficient, you will see incredible progress made in short periods of time! But, if even one or two of these factors is not sufficient, dramatic progress is much less likely.

When parents ask our teachers to push their children at a faster pace, we want to oblige the request. Parents know their children best, and sometimes the children do improve with increased pressure. However, there is a danger, especially with younger students, in pushing too hard if they are not ready physically or emotionally, or if they don’t have the maturity to move on to the next level of swimming. Often, we will see an immediate, but short-lived improvement of skills, followed by a loss of interest in attending swim lessons. It’s not uncommon to find out that these students are crying or begging their parents at home, not to come back to swim lessons!

It’s best for the child, if the teacher and parent will expect to see occasional plateaus and not panic when they occur. As long as the child still has interest in swimming lessons, he/she will achieve expert swimming levels eventually. When a child quits swim lessons because he/she is pushed too hard…he/she loses all opportunity to improve his/her swim skills!

Please speak with our swim co-ordinator to evaluate your child if you worry about their progress in swim lessons.

Credit: Swim Australia