Teaching my son to swim

Now is the time, his confidence in the pool is blooming and having turned three the little man is starting to be able to take direction and understand the importance of listening and learning. It was initially planned that we would take him to swimming lessons from very young, in fact we started it around the time he was 11 months old but after two sessions I tore my cartilage in my knee and could no longer take him to the lessons and they always seemed to be on a day John was working, plus the cost for baby and toddler lessons is a lot.

I came to realise that coming from a very sporty background, having grown up in South Africa, that swimming is like second nature to me, seriously like second nature. I represented my State in springboard diving and ranked in the top three at the South African National Diving championships, I was also in my schools surfing team, competing regularly as well as swimming in our inter-house championships in crawl, freestyle and butterfly. At one point I was training 5 days week with my diving and the other days I spent at the beach surfing or relaxing in the pool - so why should I doubt myself or my ability to teach my son one of the most important and lifesaving skills he could learn. I suppose I just overlooked it, thought someone else would be better, more qualified, but as my son's confidence grows in the pool so does mine and my ability to teach him.

Old pictures of me during diving training

An old picture of me surfing in South Africa

So with anything like this the right knowledge and equipment is key. I have already ordered a book about teaching toddlers to swim and I am gauging what equipment and buoyancy aids I should purchase in our journey to get him swim savvy. There are a lot of products out there so it's important to do your research as they need to be safe, practical and most importantly useful as an educational tool. I feel the best way to go about this is in an educated manner, I don't want to teach him bad traits or techniques and want to take it very slow and at his own pace.

Zoggs have some great products to aid learning - Back Float and Body swim jacket

I have been eyeing up a few things to not only make the whole experience easier but also fun, like anything when it comes to children, if it's not colourful, load or interactive it's pretty boring. I have been looking at the reputable swimming company Zoggs that not only have cute swimwear for kids but also have some great products to fit any stage of your child's swimming journey. I am really intrigued by the soggy back float which allows children to use there arms and legs but keep afloat with the pad attached to their back.

They also have a great range of womens swimwear from Zoggs that is streamline, practical but also adds a little bit of colour to the normal one piece swimsuit - which to me is the style of choice when it comes to leisure centres and any kind of activity that may need quick reaction time, you don't want a bikini getting caught on anything should you need to dive on a seconds notice.

Zoggs have some great ladies swimwear

I cannot wait to keep you all update on our progress and hopefully by summer we will have made huge leaps and bounds towards his confidence and ability in the pool.


This post contains a sponsored link but all words and thoughts are 100% my own.