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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 g

by 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.

by mcv 4y ago

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.