Importance of Swim Lessons by Age Group
Overview
Swim lessons offer valuable skills at every stage of a child’s development, that can promote safety, skill-building, endurance, and fitness. As children grow the benefits associated with swim lessons change to reflect their current life stage. For ages 1-4 the main goal of swim lessons is to teach children safety skills and get comfortable in the water. Ages 5-12 the goal is to help them grow and refine their strokes, build endurance, and prepare them to be part of a competitive team. And for ages 13-17 swim lessons helps with fitness, mental health, and helps to build advanced skills that can help foster competitive success.
Ages 1 - 4 years old
For kids in the 1-4 year age range, swim lessons are important to get them acclimated in the water and to teach them the basics of swimming. One of the main goals during this time is to teach kids water safety. This includes teaching them how to roll on their back, float, and potentially learn how to tread water for a short period of time. It’s also important to not only teach them lifesaving techniques but to also get them acclimated to the water by participating in parent and child swim classes. Lastly, kids in this age range can begin to learn some basic swim skills like floating, kicking, moving their arms, the proper way to breath, and doing simple swims strokes like the front crawl.
Ages 5 - 12 years old
For the age range of 5-12 swim lessons are a great way for kids to stay active and grow in their swimming skills and techniques. During this age range kids are expanding their swim knowledge, learning and mastering new strokes, and building their endurance in the water. Swim lessons help to transition kids from swimming recreationly to swimming comepetitively and prepares them for their swimming career in high school and potentially college. During this time kids are building upon basic knowledge to improve their swimming skills so that they are able to not only be safe in the water but also swim in a competitive environment. Along with that, group swim lessons and swim teams can also help kids to grow their teamwork skills and communication skills, along with make new friends.
Ages 13 - 17 years old
Swimming lessons are great for teenagers because they are a good source of exercise and can be a social activity. Because swimming is a high intensity activity it raises your heart rate and helps to build up the heart and improve circulation. Not only is it great for building cardiovascular health but it also helps to improve endurance and flexibility while not being hard on your joints. Swim lessons can also help with your mental health because it helps to reduce stress, improve cognitive function, and when swimming on a team, foster deep relationships. During this age range swim lessons also start to be more focused on helping to grow skills that will help teens to be able to perform better competitively. These lessons can help them grow as athletes, become more confident in their skills, and help them to move onto high school athletics and college athletics.
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