British Swim School: Teaching Kids to Love and Stay Safe in the Water

At the end of the 2016 summer, I decided we wanted our then two-year-old daughter to learn how to be more capable and self-reliant in the water. We researched several of the programs in the area and, at the recommendation of a friend, enrolled her in the British Swim School. We are so happy that we made that decision.

To be honest, the first class was rocky. My daughter screamed the whole time. I spoke to the instructor afterward and she said, “let’s give it one more try, if it doesn’t work next week, we can always switch her level.”  The instructor stuck with her and by the second class there was already improvement.

From the first classes, I was impressed with the way that the program was run and how well my daughter was able to learn and implement the skills taught.  I remembered my skepticism – ‘how much can she really learn in half an hour?’, ’how long is this going to sink in?’, etc. After only a few sessions I was sold and very impressed. My daughter was floating in the water without any support from the instructors and asking at home for more “swim class.” Swim class? Swim class? Every single day!

Sometimes I think, this is hard work, I really need to be careful not to push her, but she is the one pushing me to take her.  The float – kick– swim approach to instruction uses and builds on the kids’ instincts in the water. Watching her become so confident makes me so proud of her. She loves learning in class and now leaves class wanting to practice more in the tub when we get home. In less than four months she moved up to Turtle 1 and is so proud of herself, she is already eyeing that green cap and is working on that Turtle 2 status.

Three months ago, we started our, then eight-month-old, son in the tadpole class.  He has since moved up to the Swimboree level and his ability in the water is so impressive for such a young age. He does not fear going underwater and is learning how to roll over onto his back to begin to float. He is literally learning to walk and swim at the same time.

The program taught by British Swim School is fun and effective. To me, that is all that matters. My daughter is building her confidence and skills, while having a blast. I see my son developing water survival instincts that I would have never thought possible for someone so young.

The British Swim School system works and is working well for us. A great curriculum also requires great instructors. From my experience the instructors are phenomenal. They handle such a wide range of kids with different temperaments and skill levels and they handle them and instruct them so well. I am really happy we have our kids enrolled at the British Swim School.

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The author was provided with two free sessions in exchange for this review. All opinions are 100% her own.

Call (301) 963-3500 to enroll, or find a class online here.