Learning to Swim

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski The Princeton Family YMCA offers swim lessons yearlong to kids of all ages. For more information, call (609) 497-2100.

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   KIDS
and a swimming pool: perfect together.

   Or so it would seem every summer, to anyone within sight or earshot of a pool. If it’s true that the work of childhood is play, then a swimming pool is a major playground. And in just a few weeks, those watery playgrounds will be back in business.

   Besides countless other benefits — social, emotional, physical, mental; both immediate and very long-term — kids who are comfortable in the water and can swim simply have fun. Then, if they’re comfortable and enjoying themselves, that in turn facilitates both more learning and "I can do this" feelings. Princeton psychologist Susan Edwards says, "Anything that increases children’s sense of competence is good for their mental health."

   At this time of year, swimming is a natural picker-upper, a skill to build, and to build on. Being able to swim lets a kid say "yes" with anticipation, not dread, to pool parties. Feeling comfortable "suited up" contributes to a kid’s social aplomb, which undoubtedly carries over to other settings.

   Swimming could become a kid’s specialty, something s/he does well — and everybody needs one of those, at least. It might lead to competitive swimming, and thus more skill-building and socialization, as well as "competence-confidence."

   For the shy or self-conscious child, getting into swimming, and liking it, can help vanquish fears of changing clothes in a locker room with others around, or even of wearing a swimsuit. If these things happen in the furtherance of fun and feelings of competence, they quickly become non-issues.

   Possibly the very best outcome of learning to swim is that it can become a lifetime sport, says Stephen A. Fletcher, swim coach at Rider University. Having taught people of all ages to swim, he knows. Though he currently focuses on college-age swimmers, Mr. Fletcher remembers teaching an adult program for parents of his team members; they came to the sessions with fears and inhibitions built up over many long years. Lifetime swimmers, on the other hand, have an exercise they can do virtually anywhere, and they can excel at it too: Mr. Fletcher cites mature "master swimmers" who have set records.

   And with or without records, lap-swimming is a popular exercise option for people of all ages and pursuits. It’s an individual thing, involving neither competition nor socialization (except the usual in-lane courtesies), and it can be highly beneficial to the swimmer. It can be done anywhere there’s a pool, and as a relatively non-weight bearing exercise, it’s usually less damaging to joints than sports like running can be.

   And of course "safety" is a key reason for learning to swim. Those involved with water sports of any kind would be more secure, and probably long-lived too, if they could also swim. So much of our world, starting with ourselves, is comprised largely of water that it seems incongruent for anyone to sit by the side of it or sail on top of it and still fear being in it.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

   Now is the time for caring parents, whether swimmers or non-swimmers themselves, to come to the aid of their non-swimming kids. And luckily, this is the right season to check out options for swimming instruction, then talk it up and sign up.

   For many people, "the Y" is synonymous with swimming. Sharing a building and its pool while offering two different swim-instruction programs, The Princeton YWCA and the Princeton Family YMCA are obvious first stops for information. Four lanes wide and 25 yards long (Olympic size is closer to 55 yards in length, with at least eight wide lanes), the Y’s venerable pool is more than 40 years old and possibly the most densely occupied piece of aquatic real estate for miles around. And yet, for countless kids, it’s where they first gained comfort in the water — and for swimmers of all ages, it’s still a place for regular lap-swimming.

   The YW offers class instruction that adheres to the American Red Cross Aquatic Program; the YM does not. "That’s the way it’s always been," says Barbara Griggs, aquatics director, theorizing that the same skills are involved, with different ways of teaching them. Both programs are open to boys and girls, and classes are mixed-sex.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

   The YW’s classes start with a "Waterbabies" class for four-month olds, then move through parent-toddler and pre-school offerings. After that come seven levels ("not chronological, but skill and comfort-related," Ms. Griggs says), with a child’s placement determined by skill-testing. For details, phone (609) 497-2100, ext. 309.

   Spring and fall are the busiest times for lessons at the "Y," whose summer schedule is built around use of the pool by various camps. But outdoor community pools flourish in summertime, and people can find swimming instruction in these settings to be more relaxing.

   In early April, phoning around to community pools and swim clubs listed in the yellow pages was not too fruitful an activity. A few numbers had been "temporarily disconnected at the client’s request" (presumably till closer to swimming season); others provided taped invitations to call later.

   But if the few we reached were typical, community pools are open only to town residents (as with the high school pool in Lawrence Township) or to town residents first (as with West Windsor’s "Water Works"). Although Mercer County Community College offers lessons for kids, summer classes are already filled; the best advice is to phone the college’s non-credit office, (609) 586-4800; ext. 3294, for fall registration information — ASAP.

   Starting early, as in right now, could make the difference. The benefits of knowing how to swim far outweigh the possible hassle of finding a place with openings at times that work. The important thing is make the plunge and get in the swim.

   "Swimming, anyone?"