Swimming Lessons

[caster]

Does anyone know where i could get my 2 year old son swimming lessons in Pattaya?

[nonameidentified]

2 years old is a little too young for swimming lessons I think. Usually they accept from 3 years onwards. There's swimming lessons offered at Fairtex sports club in Pattaya Nua , not far away from Tesco Lotus. Contact no: (66 38) 488-196, 488-657, 488-658

Another place that offers swimming lessons is Marriott hotel sports club. They offer swimming lessons during weekends. You can call the hotel and ask them to transfer you to the sports and gym club to ask for more enquiries. Each 1 hour lesson costs 300 baht. But I'm not sure if they accept 2 yr old or not.

[expatgaz]

I have a 2 year old boy and to be honest believe lessons at that age to early.I get my boy in the pool all the time with arm bands on and swim next to him ,encourage him to kick his legs,use his arms and it's still fun,not lessons.He's coming on brilliant and loves it.Keping the enjoyment there and making it feel like playing is the way forward.I'd not think abt lessons until 5 or 6 year old by which time he should be like a fish anyway.

EPG.

[Basil B]

What do you really want for your son, just to be able to swim or a gold in the 2020 Olympics?

if the answer is just to be able to swim then what EPG says is good advice, just get him in the pool with a pair of arm bands and swim next to him he will pick it up very quickly, why wast money on swimming lessons.

BB

Edited September 15, 2007 by Basil B

[tropo]

You may want to consider getting hold of the "Total Immersion" DVDs which are the new rave in swim instruction. After watching the videos you should be able to teach him yourself and improve on your swimming while you're at it. Learn together.

All the Australian swimming champions use this method now (as well as US and European champions) and it's absolutely fantastic.

I recently started self-teaching myself this method. I've been a swimmer all my life, but these techniques have transformed my swimming to a level I never before thought possible. If you start him young on correct technique, he won't waste any time learning bad habits, and if he wishes he could become quite a swimmer.

Edited September 15, 2007 by tropo

[caster]

What do you really want for your son, just to be able to swim or a gold in the 2020 Olympics?

if the answer is just to be able to swim then what EPG says is good advice, just get him in the pool with a pair of arm bands and swim next to him he will pick it up very quickly, why wast money on swimming lessons.

BB

I do the above you mentioned already,I just wanted him to learn to swim, by a Better swimmer then me.

Its a bit like teaching your wife to drive a car, its better that someone else do it,as for wasting money on lessons i'm sure it wont break me, , i recently had a friend who lost his 1 year old son in his back yard fence enclosed pool, he actually got thought the rails in the fence,and since about 95% of pools in thailand have no fence's , i think teaching kids to swim at a young age is a good idea, yes i know what you will all say, where were his parents, Hindsight is a wonderfull thing isnt it! thanks for all the advice and phone contacts though,much appreciated.

[Ulysses G.]

It is REALLY important to teach kids the main strokes properly.

I used to be a swimming teacher and a lifeguard and from what I can see, doing the strokes correctly is the main difference between a good swimmer and a bad one.

They are quite easy to learn and after a while you get a sense of how to change them to fit your body type, so your swimming even improves more.

[hullmonkey1]

Not sure if they are available in thailand but my 2 year old son learnt to swim in Hong kong with a backpack type floatation device. The thing strapped on the same as a backpack with 4 flat floats on the back. I just removed 1 of the floats every couple of weeks until after 2 months he was swimming with just the straps attached. Much better than arm bands as his movements were not restricted. The chinese mums around the pool used to jump up and flap like hel_l when they saw him jumping into the deep end

[gosmond]

I have 30+ years experience teaching swimming. Both my boys were in the water by 3 months and at 6 and 9 are both fantastic swimmers. They do not swim competitively due to toher sporting commitments but train with me every day now. I understand you want them to learn to swim ASAP but I have to agree that swimming for you for now is fine. Once they can swim by themselves, then you can think about lessons but I don't think a swimming teacher will make much difference at this stage. I do not agree with arm bands though as kids get to rely on them and t hey get in the way. Put them on at the end of your swimming session just to let him/her splash around without your support. Encourage t hem to kick their legs with you walking backwards and encourage them to put their head underwater. They'll be doing their first length before their 3rd birthday!