Maintain your skills and stay water safe during the cooler months.
Our YMCA Swimschool Specialist talks about the many benefits of continuing swimming lessons over the cooler months.
Enrolments now open. Contact your local YMCA Swim School today
Some benefits include:
Regular lessons maintain skills
When the warm weather returns, children will want to enjoy their time around the water with friends. Particularly for children who are still in the early stages of learning to swim, regular lessons all year round can help them to maintain and even improve their skills.
Swimming lessons go a long way toward ensuring that swimming ability doesn’t decline. It’s not uncommon for children that cease swimming lessons over the cooler months to slip back a level or two as they are not practicing their swimming skills on a regular basis.
Boost your immune system
Moderate exercise has been shown to give the immune system a boost. As long as children are healthy, regular, moderate exercise during the winter months may help them to ward off illness.
During the winter months, most people become less active since there are fewer opportunities for outdoor sports and other forms of exercise when the weather is warm. Regular swimming lessons can assist children to stay active and well.
Generally swimming increases overall body strength and can assist in the control of lung disorders including asthma. Swimming along with good nutrition can actually keep your child fit and healthy during the cooler months.
Safety is a year-round
During the cooler month’s children generally spend less time around swimming pools, their access to water is normally during lessons.
There are many dangers for children around the water during the cooler months; many of these dangers are at home including backyard pools. Backyard pools still need to be monitored as a danger during winter; pool fences and gates need to be secure to restrict access. We should still supervise outdoor play to ensure that pool areas are not accessed. According to Royal Life Saving 64% of drownings incidents happen during spring, winter and autumn, 21% of these drowning happen during winter.
Regular swimming and swim safety lessons can help to increase their chances of knowing the best way to get them out of harm’s way.
Water safety is an important skill that needs to be learnt all year round, this ensures that the child’s water safety skills are sound and ready for the summer ahead and that they stay safer during the cooler months.
Escape cabin fever
Children often get bored and restless during the winter months. Indoor activities like reading, watching television and computer games can only provide so many hours of entertainment before kids feel the urge to run, jump, play and be active. When it’s too cold to play outdoors a trip to an indoor pool makes a perfect escape.
More milestones through swimming
NSW Health recommends that children get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. During winter the options are limited due to the cold and often wet weather. Many of our YMCA Swim Schools operate at indoor pools so the water is warm and the showers are hot for use after lessons. Make sure you rug up before leaving the centre after your lesson, beanies and Ugg boots are a great way to keep warm after lessons.
Swimming works most of the body’s major muscle groups which makes it an excellent form of exercise for growing children. Research has shown that children that participate in swimming generally have better coordination and are more likely to succeed in other sports.
Griffith University research has shown that children that participate in swimming lessons develop better language, literacy and numeracy skills and are more prepared for school. The research also showed that generally children that participated in swimming lessons achieved a range of “milestones” earlier than normal populations and were more likely to understand and comply with directions.
Developing confidence in kids
Regular weekly swimming lessons help develop confidence in children by encouraging them to overcome fears and achieve goals. Children that swim become more calm and comfortable in the water, and build confidence through overcoming challenges, increasing their belief that they can do it!
If your child is comfortable with their teacher and doing well in their lessons don’t stop over the cooler months. Keeping consistency by attending regular weekly lessons will help your child to build on the skills they have already learnt. Continuing lessons will also minimise the risk of your child not gaining a position with their preferred teacher when the busy re-enrolments start in spring.
Enrolments now open. Contact your local YMCA Swim School today
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