4 ms·

where are you from? I've never heard of swimming lessons with clothes here in France, so I'm curious where it is common.

michaelt 4y ago
Here in the UK, 'water safety 2 award' [1] includes swimming in clothes. So if parents send a kid to swimming lessons for a few years, they'll end up doing it some time around age 10. (There are several different sequences of swimming awards, so it's no the second thing you learn despite the 2 in the name) [1] https://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/swim-england-water-safety-and-survival-awards/ https://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/swim-england-water-safe...
- mcv 4y ago
  10? How old do British kids start with swimming lessons? In Netherland, most children tend to start swimming lessons somewhere between the age of 4 and 6, and get their A and B swimming diplomas (both of which include swimming with clothes, as well the 4 basic strokes, diving, swimming underwater, etc) between the ages of 5 and 9 (depending on talent).
  - michaelt 4y ago
    Swimming lessons in the UK are mostly extracurricular, so they start whenever the parents feel like it. There are parent-and-baby swimming lessons for 3-month-olds, for those that want it. The government also provides school swimming lessons, aiming to teach all students to swim 25 meters by age 11 - so some kids start swimming quite a bit later. The document I actually saw said the swimming-with-clothes course is aimed at 7-14-year-olds which I simplified down to 'around age 10'
    - mcv 4y ago
      > Swimming lessons in the UK are mostly extracurricular, so they start whenever the parents feel like it. There are parent-and-baby swimming lessons for 3-month-olds, for those that want it. Same here, but those parent-and-baby lessons are more about getting used to water, and not the structured lessons that lead to a diploma. And while regular lessons start when parents feel like it, nearly all parents feel like it between age 4 and 6. There's some discussion whether or not it's better to start early (I think it depends on the child), but starting at 7 would be considered late. My son is 8, and, partially due to Covid lockdowns, partially due to a lack of talent, still doesn't have his A diploma, and he's the biggest kid of his group.
  - Wildgoose 4y ago
    I think it must depend upon the Local Authority. I had school swimming lessons from the ages of 7 to 11, including swimming with clothes, how to rescue someone and even making "floats" by tying knots in shirts/trousers and then filling them with air and tying them off. We took our kids for swimming lessons from around 3 or 4 from memory. My niece has been taking her son swimming from being just a few months old.
mcv 4y ago
Netherland. All children are expected to at least get their 'A' and 'B' swimming diplomas, and both include swimming with clothes. I'm surprised France doesn't have that. It sounds like an important survival skill to me.
- baud147258 4y ago
  Thank you. I learned to swim with the primary school I was going to, but learning to swim with clothes isn't be part of the official curriculum (as far as I can understand the words of the official website: https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2011/28/mene1115402c.htm https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2011/28/mene1115402c.htm).
  - baud147258 4y ago
    On a pure speculation level, I guess it'd be down to the reasons the two governments mandated the teaching of swimming: for France it's more of a public health/fitness cause (maybe even as a funnel for professional/olympic swimmers), but with no intention to teach swimming as a survival skills, or at least not to the point of including the swim while clothed exercise.
defrost 4y ago
Australia's the same - if you're a pool regular child looking to get the certificates (lifesaver, bronze medallion, etc) you'll be swimming in clothes, diving for weights, towing others by their chin to the poolside, treading water, etc. at age 12 or so. Out of the pool you're in the ocean daily as a kid, this is where we were before and after school [1], body boarding in a wet suit. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flaDV34_jgs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flaDV34_jgs

michaelt 4y ago

Here in the UK, 'water safety 2 award' [1] includes swimming in clothes. So if parents send a kid to swimming lessons for a few years, they'll end up doing it some time around age 10. (There are several different sequences of swimming awards, so it's no the second thing you learn despite the 2 in the name) [1] https://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/swim-england-water-safety-and-survival-awards/ https://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/swim-england-water-safe...

mcv 4y ago
10? How old do British kids start with swimming lessons? In Netherland, most children tend to start swimming lessons somewhere between the age of 4 and 6, and get their A and B swimming diplomas (both of which include swimming with clothes, as well the 4 basic strokes, diving, swimming underwater, etc) between the ages of 5 and 9 (depending on talent).
- michaelt 4y ago
  Swimming lessons in the UK are mostly extracurricular, so they start whenever the parents feel like it. There are parent-and-baby swimming lessons for 3-month-olds, for those that want it. The government also provides school swimming lessons, aiming to teach all students to swim 25 meters by age 11 - so some kids start swimming quite a bit later. The document I actually saw said the swimming-with-clothes course is aimed at 7-14-year-olds which I simplified down to 'around age 10'
  - mcv 4y ago
    > Swimming lessons in the UK are mostly extracurricular, so they start whenever the parents feel like it. There are parent-and-baby swimming lessons for 3-month-olds, for those that want it. Same here, but those parent-and-baby lessons are more about getting used to water, and not the structured lessons that lead to a diploma. And while regular lessons start when parents feel like it, nearly all parents feel like it between age 4 and 6. There's some discussion whether or not it's better to start early (I think it depends on the child), but starting at 7 would be considered late. My son is 8, and, partially due to Covid lockdowns, partially due to a lack of talent, still doesn't have his A diploma, and he's the biggest kid of his group.
- Wildgoose 4y ago
  I think it must depend upon the Local Authority. I had school swimming lessons from the ages of 7 to 11, including swimming with clothes, how to rescue someone and even making "floats" by tying knots in shirts/trousers and then filling them with air and tying them off. We took our kids for swimming lessons from around 3 or 4 from memory. My niece has been taking her son swimming from being just a few months old.

mcv 4y ago

Netherland. All children are expected to at least get their 'A' and 'B' swimming diplomas, and both include swimming with clothes. I'm surprised France doesn't have that. It sounds like an important survival skill to me.

baud147258 4y ago
Thank you. I learned to swim with the primary school I was going to, but learning to swim with clothes isn't be part of the official curriculum (as far as I can understand the words of the official website: https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2011/28/mene1115402c.htm https://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2011/28/mene1115402c.htm).
- baud147258 4y ago
  On a pure speculation level, I guess it'd be down to the reasons the two governments mandated the teaching of swimming: for France it's more of a public health/fitness cause (maybe even as a funnel for professional/olympic swimmers), but with no intention to teach swimming as a survival skills, or at least not to the point of including the swim while clothed exercise.

defrost 4y ago

Australia's the same - if you're a pool regular child looking to get the certificates (lifesaver, bronze medallion, etc) you'll be swimming in clothes, diving for weights, towing others by their chin to the poolside, treading water, etc. at age 12 or so. Out of the pool you're in the ocean daily as a kid, this is where we were before and after school [1], body boarding in a wet suit. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flaDV34_jgs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flaDV34_jgs