Why are group swimming lessons beneficial?

I directing this post at parents who are good swimmers and want to teach there children how to swim themselves… although thats great! There are many benefits to group sport. 

Research in the domain of sport and performance psychology has shown that group activity and cohesion are associated with future sport engagement. This means that children who are involved in group activity are more likely to continue physical activity later in life. 

In fact this study was conducted on a school aged learn to swim program. Very applicable to our topic! They tracked children who took swimming lessons in groups and compared them to those who didn’t. What they found was that the children in group swimming lessons where more likely to continue with swimming in the future. 

My take on this is that its important to have your kids involved in group sport in general. This makes group swimming lessons an excellent form of development for your children… however I still think supporting your child and making sure they succeed is extremely beneficial to their swimming skill. Obviously our number one goal should be to make sure children are safe around water and can rescue themselves from water related incidents if needed.  

50s on 1:01

Here is a challenging set that works on speed endurance.

Warm up

100 meters (m) choice swim
100m choice kick
100m choice pull

Main set

'Unlimited' 50s on 1:01min

-The aim of this set is to keep going unit you no longer make the time.
-You will be swimming 50 meters within 1minute and 1 second (the 1 second helps you keep track of how many you have done).
-So if you swim your 50m in 45seconds the first time you get 16 seconds rest before you have to go again. If you swim your 50m in 58seconds than you get 3 seconds rest. Make sense?
-The more 50s you do the slower your time should get... if you are not slowing down you need a faster time (50s on 51 seconds) or if you can't make the time the first time a slower time (50s on 1:11).

Remember this is speed endurance! So work it!

When you miss your time.. you are done your main set for the day.

Warm down

100m choice pull
100m choice kick
100m choice swim

Total: Unknown

Songs and Games for the Pool #3 (The Sport Addition)

For the most part, these games are going to be more targeted towards swimming groups. These are great games you could play if you are teaching swimming lessons or maybe a bunch of your friends bring your children/babies to the pool together. 

Tot Soccer

Yes! Soccer! Be excited all you Dads! 

This game is pretty self-explanatory, however the goal is to score on the other team (get the ball to touch the wall if you don't have a net) while only using your child's feet. The proper way to do this is to have them kick the water (using flutter kick) by themselves or with your assistance to push the ball to the other side by passing it around to your teammates. 

Tot Soccer Practice 

A variation of that game is to have everyone get in a circle and have your child kick the ball back and forth/ around the circle. Again, we want them to practice their flutter kick... either on their own or with your assistance. 

Tot Baseball

Have your child start out of the water and give them a small baseball sized toy/ball that floats... (Tennis balls work great). Get them to throw the ball as far as they can (work on their pitching skills) and get in the water and swim out to their ball and bring it back to the wall for a home run (Its not exactly like baseball, but trust me your kids will love it). Your kids can either do this by them selves, with noodles/ floaties, or with you! 

Water polo

Water polo is a real water sport and a great one to play with older kids to work on their eggbeater/ treading water. Set up two goal posts, either with real nets or with colourful objects marking each side. Get a ball and play! 

The goal is to score on the other team by getting the ball in the net, or between the goal posts.

The ball is not aloud underwater and you are not allowed to push other players underwater... but those are really the only major rules for a basic game of water polo. 

Sometimes when playing with larger groups I will implement a rule where the players are not allowed to move when they have the ball, forcing them to pass to other people on their team. That way everyone is sure to get a turn eventually and there are no ball hogs. 

Have Fun!

Basic IM set (1700 meters)

This is my go to set when I want a basic workout while having a lot of variety. An IM (individual medley) consists of 4 strokes... butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.

If you do not know how to do butterfly feel free to substitute that stroke with something else such as freestyle(front crawl).

Note: An interval (ex 4x50m) means you swim 50 meters take a 15 sec rest and then repeat 3 more times for a total of 4. Goals should be to maintain a constant speed throughout all of the repeats in each interval.

Butterfly
100meters (m) swim
100m kick
100m pull
2x50m sprint with 15 sec rest

Backcrawl
100m swim
100m kick
100m pull
2x50m sprint with 15 sec rest

Breaststroke
100m swim
100m kick
100m pull
2x50m sprint with 15 sec rest

Freestyle (frontcrawl)
100m swim
100m kick
100m pull
2x50m sprint with 15 sec rest

100m choice cool down.

Total: 1700m

Swim workout (1400m) -> training for a 200 meter race

This workout is designed to train for a 200 meter swim race. 200 meter races can be tricky (at least Ive always thought they were; being a 100 meter sprinter) as they are a longer distance sprint event. This workout can be done in whatever stroke you are working on.

Warm up

100 meters (m) swim
50m drill
50m kick

Main set 

Note: An interval (ex 4x50m) means you swim 50 meters take a 15 sec rest and then repeat 3 more times for a total of 4. Goals should be to maintain a constant speed throughout all of the repeats in each interval.

4x50m Sprint with 15 sec rest

2x100m sprint with 20 sec rest

200m race pace 30 sec rest

2x 100m sprint with 20 sec rest

4x50m sprint with 15 sec rest

Warm down 

200m easy swim

Total: 1400 m practise

Sprint workout (1200m)

This workout can be done with whatever stroke you are currently working on.

Note: An interval (ex 4x50m) means you swim 50 meters take a 15 sec rest and then repeat 3 more times for a total of 4. Goals should be to maintain a constant speed throughout all of the repeats in each interval.

Warm up 

100meter (m) swim easy

100m kick 

100m drills (pick two of your favourite drills) 

Main set 

4x50m build with 10 sec rest (start slow finish fast) 

6x50m sprint with 20 sec rest 

4x50m fade with 10 sec rest (start fast finish slow) 

Warm down 

200m swim easy 

Total 1200meters

Tips on Submersion for Preschoolers and Children

Being comfortable with putting faces in the water is one of the biggest challenges that faces young children in swimming lessons. Children who were not introduced to the pool at a younger age will typically view putting their face underwater as a scary task. From my experience, I've noticed that children who were not introduced to the pool/being underwater by about age 3 children will have already developed fears (or acceptance and enjoyment) of being underwater. At this age you should not dunk children  because it has the potential to make their fear significantly worse by confirming their negative association with the water. At this point the child needs to choose to submerge their head at their own pace. However you can still be supportive and a little persuasive to help the process move along.

Disclaimer: Make sure your child is comfortable in the water before moving on to submersion.

Here are 3 tips on how to get your children to submerge their heads underwater.

1) Demonstrate. Make sure you are putting your face in the water to show them that its not scary. Be happy when you come back up!

2) Small steps. Encourage your child to put small parts of their face in the water little by little. Start with their chin, move on to their ears, cheeks, ect. Finish with their whole face in the water. Give praise for each small step towards the goal. Try playing simon says!

3) Tricks. Use a fun engaging task to trick them into putting their face in the water. I like to use rings (or sink toys). I start by placing them somewhere shallow where your child can pick them up without going under water. Progressively move them deeper until they have to put their face and head underwater to pick up the ring. Stairs work great if you don't have a slopped pool. Most children get so engaged in getting the ring from the bottom they will put their face in unintentionally. Be extremely happy when they do and give them the praise they deserve.


This can be either be a fast or slow process depending on your own child. You may need to get creative about what activities to use. Different children will be more engaged in certain activities than others. Check out my song and games resources for lots of suggestions for different activities.