Learn to Swim v. Learn to Survive

So what’s the difference between learning to swim and learning to survive? We hear it all the time, “my child knows how to swim.” We get her in the water (we will use a female child for this example) and sure enough, the child can swim, doggie paddle, etc. a few feet like a champ. Your child can definitely swim, but if your child were to fall into a pool, could she save herself?

Let’s talk about your child on dry land for a minute. When your child throws a temper tantrum, throws herself on the floor to the point that you just can’t reason with her, she is obviously not within her senses. As a father of four, I have been through this on more occasions than I want to admit. You’re in the middle of a crowded place and something sets her off. What’s a parent to do, it happens to the best of us. You try to pick her up and she kicks, screams and makes a bigger scene. This is embarrassing to say the least but nonetheless, a part of parenting. In most cases, a welcoming hug or picking a child up is normally received with a reciprocating hug, but as we all know, that’s not the case when a tantrum sets in. They will generally push away because they have lost all sense of normality during the momentary tantrum. Now let’s consider this, but in a wet environment. Your child just fell into a pool, panic sets in and what’s the first thing she does? She pushes away from the only thing that can save her, the wall. So why do kids do this? They do this because when panicked or when a tantrum sets in, they lose all sense of normality and will usually do things that make no sense, like pushing away from a wall that can save them or kicking and screaming when a parent tries to “hug it out.” 

So your child just fell into a pool and has pushed away from the wall. What happens next? If this child can “swim,” then she may swim for a few feet and will inevitably need to catch a breath. Unfortunately, the instructor that taught her how to “swim” forgot to mention that he did not teach her how to “breath.” I’ve always said that a 2 year old child that can swim does not really impress me, but what I am most impressed with is a 2 year old child that knows how to save herself. For the last year and a half I have preached the term “safer swimmers” and I say “safer” because I think that “safe” is a word that allows us to put our guard down. We are truly never safe in the water but we can certainly do things that will make us safer, stronger and smarter swimmers. At Evolution Swim Academy we teach the back float and we do it because research shows that a child can float for much longer than she can hold her breath. When the back float becomes second nature it is amazing what kids can do. I mean little kids who can’t even walk yet. These kids can save themselves in case of a water incident and we have seen it here over and over again, but let me caution you, if you are looking for instant gratification, beware because this life saving skill does not happen overnight. Teaching a child a life saving skill the right way will only happen as fast at the child will allow it to and although we do have tricks up our sleeves to get kids moving forward, we do have to respect that a child learns at an individuals pace and there is not a one size fits all. I want you to see what I am referring to in these videos. In the first video, the child can obviously swim but cannot necessarily catch a breath. In every scene you will notice that the instructor either picks her up or she swims to a wall. But what if she reaches for the wall and misses or worst yet, runs out of breath before reaching the wall?  In the second video you will notice that the child falls into the pool, instantly floats on his back to recover from the initial shock and then finds his way to the swim bench for safety. I feel that this is the most energy efficient way to teach a child how to save himself because he has two options: Option 1, float, option 2, swim. In the 3rd video you can see that this child can also swim to the wall, just like in the first video.