How Long Will it Take My Child to Learn to Swim?

During the ages of 1-4, swim lessons are focused on developing what the American Academy of Pediatrics calls “aquatic readiness and adjustment”. At this point, children can begin to develop “voluntary” swimming skills, rather than the “reflexive” water skills of infancy, which disappear as they develop past 12 months old. This is one reason why continued, consistent swimming lessons throughout childhood are so important and a safety factor, as children continually gain proficiency as they go through stages of physical development and the more exposure they get to swim practice.

Between 1-4 years, swim lessons teach basic aquatic skills at a rudimentary level of coordination and control, ultimately improving water safety, and teaching children to get back to safety in the case of an emergency. In short, they set the pre-requisite foundation for learning more technical strokes and greatly reduce a child’s risk of drowning by 88%!

Like learning to read or play an instrument, learning to swim is a gradual, nuanced process, and every child develops their skills at their own unique pace. Lauren bases the Splash Mobile Swim Lessons curriculum, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, on readiness rather than age expectations, taking into account every child’s pace as the most important criterion for making decisions about when and what children are ready to learn in the water.

Swim lessons for an 18-month-old typically involve, for example, gradual water discovery and exploration; they explore buoyancy and begin practicing assisted front and back floats, glides, and flutter kicking, and they’re introduced to breath control techniques like blowing bubbles. We don’t expect them, however, to be able to perform a front crawl at this age, as it’s not developmentally suitable. A 3-year-old, on the other hand, may be able to start some underwater exploration, progressive breath control, and increased forward movement in the water while also continuing to practice how to safely exit in the event of falling into the pool. By the time they are 4.5 years old, children can typically perform rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action to begin learning stroke techniques in front crawl and back crawl. While these age expectations are a helpful guide and take into account a typical child’s cognitive and motor development, every child’s swimming journey is unique.

It’s important to emphasize that swim lessons do not ever make a child “drown-proof”, and they’re not a replacement for constant child supervision when around a body of water. Rather, swim lessons are a layer of protection within a many-layered, thorough water safety plan.

At Splash Mobile Swim Lessons of St. Petersburg, Florida, we honor each child's unique pace, strengths, developmental stage, and challenges in the water. Lauren tailors lessons to each swimmer's specific developmental needs and readiness cues. Research suggests frequent exposure accelerates learning, so we recommend booking 8 or 12 lessons to enhance comfort and skill acquisition in the water. By using a playful, engaging curriculum, we create a learning environment that facilitates natural learning through joy and believe children are bound to excel at swimming through our child-centered curriculum.

In summation, a child’s journey to swimming proficiency can take many seasons, just like learning a sport or an instrument! The earlier a child can be exposed to swim lessons, as young as 18 months, the better. Swim lessons are a holistic developmental experience, building children’s cognition, coordination, focus, muscle strength, flexibility, cardiovascular strength, and independence, and helping them get a great night’s rest!

Looking forward to Splashing with you in St. Pete soon!