Specific Swimming Tips for All Ages

I learned to swim at age 5 at a private club where our family was a member. I don’t remember specifically what or how I was taught—only that I began playing in the shallow end and that my older sister started letting me go to the deeper end of the pool with her as she held me afloat with her hand underneath me. I do know that I learned to hold my breath underwater and not be afraid of it. As I grew I began to absolutely love the water  itself and even more to love the Ocean and the Gulf, which is almost a flotation device in and of itself. Though I cannot suggest that anyone will automatically love to swim as much as I did and do, I can tell you that certain activities and movements will begin to dispel fear of swimming for both the child swimmer and for even adults. 

1. Breathing is so crucial to efficiency and ease in swimming that it should be taught as a first step in teaching anyone to swim. I was taught to put my head in the water and breath out through my mouth, blowing bubbles to exhale. This way I could learn how to breathe in as I tilted my head sideways and to exhale my breath as I turned my head downward, submerging my nose. I see so many people swimming by tipping their head left to right while frantically fighting to hold their noses above the water. This is not swimming and nobody who is afraid of immersing his or her face will be able to go any decent distance. It’s simply not possible. So the very first lessons when you teach a person to swim should concentrate on showing a student (or child) how to immerse the nose and entire face and breathe out, then tilt the face sideways and breathe in air. When they learn to do this from a standing position in shallow water, you can place a hand under them in deeper water and let them do it while they are floating, supported by you. Then you can gradually let go and allow them to stay afloat on their on.