Monthly Archives: July 2019

The past few weeks of swim class at British Swim School have been so exciting! Mae finally turned a corner and has made a huge leap forward in her progress. She stubbornly refused to put her head underwater for the longest time (we’ve been trying for years). Nothing and no one could convince her to do it….that is until she started working with Ms. Bonnie. After a couple weeks of having Ms. Bonnie as her instructor, she felt really comfortable and more confident than ever. Ms. Bonnie seems to always know what to do and say to kids who are nervous. One day, Ms. Bonnie was able to get Mae to go completely underwater by going under with her. Mae finally realized it’s no big deal! After that class, she started putting her head under when we would go to our swim club. Now Mae is constantly jumping in the water from the pool deck and is having so much fun now that she’s overcome that fear!

Once Mae completed her submersion, she graduated to the Minnow level! She was thrilled and I was super proud of her as well! This past Sunday was her first class at the Minnow level and she did amazing! Mae is already doing the jump in + roll over + floating independently! She even asked me to help her practice this at our swim club today, so I can tell she’s motivated and really wants to master the skills.  I can’t wait to see her make even more progress and complete all the goals at this level:

5 Goals of Minnow

1. Safe entry/safe exit with mobility using the wall
2. Jump in+ roll over+ float for 20 seconds independently
3. Independent glides back to the wall
4. Elementary backstroke 10 yards
5. Safe entry + stream line from the wall+ rollover+ float independently for 20 seconds.

Mae’s swim lesson last week was the day before her birthday, so she was thrilled that she got to celebrate it at British Swim School. She received a special Birthday swim cap and the entire pool sang “Happy Birthday” to her at the end of class. It meant a lot to Mae! I love how BSS goes above and beyond to make their students feel special!

Teddy is also doing great in his Swimboree class and still gets excited about going each week! He is getting very comfortable working with Ms. Bonnie on his skills and doesn’t fuss too much anymore when he is separated from me. During a recent class, Ms. Bonnie had him so relaxed while practicing a back float that it looked like he was going to fall asleep! She is truly an amazing instructor! Teddy still likes to practice his back floats at home in the bathtub too!

5 Goals of Swimboree:

1. Assisted back floating (or independent)
2. Assisted submerged Torpedo rollover (or independent rollover)
3. Full submersion sitting or standing
4. Able to separate from the parent
5. Independent in the swim ring

The submerged Torpedo rollover is the hardest skill to achieve at the Swimoree level but Teddy keeps getting better and better! This skill is where the child does a submersion and turns over underwater and surfaces into a back float. This is a really important water survival skill for little ones because it teaches them what to do in the event that they fall into deep water. If they know that they need to get into a back float position so they can breathe and call out for help, it can save their life.

Teddy has come a long way in the British Swim School program. It is really rewarding to see his progress each week. I am really glad I started classes for him at a young age (17 months) because he has developed a love of the water and isn’t afraid. He also wants to do what his big sisters are doing, so these classes will help him learn how to swim quicker!

If you are interested in enrolling your child in classes at the British Swim School, use code “CapMom19” for $20.19 off your first month of group lessons.