Swimming is a High School Gym Requirement
We often don’t think that our older children or teens need swimming lessons, but did you know that when your child starts high school as a freshman, they will have to take swimming as part of their gym requirement? Perhaps your preteen or teen has never had formal swimming lessons. Maybe it’s been years since their last lesson. Is high school gym class where you want to find out that your child can’t swim. Is that where you want to find out they don’t feel comfortable or safe in the water?
Often as kids reach a certain age, they think they are too old for swimming lessons. However, the facts are too important to ignore.
- Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under.
- As kids get older, they tend to take more risks in and around water and might not want to tell someone they can’t swim.
- In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children enrolled in formal swimming lessons had an 88% reduced risk of drowning.
Swimming for Sports Conditioning
Older kids and teens everywhere are involved in school sports. Being involved in extra curricular activities is a wonderful way for your kids to stay active, learn about teamwork as well as build relationships with coaches and team mates. Did you know that in many high school sports programs, swimming is part of the conditioning program? That’s right! Swimming is a full body workout that many land based sports programs incorporate into their training program because:
- It’s great for injury prevention and rehabilitation. Swimming is low impact and therefore offers an injured athlete the ability to continue to train while minimizing pain and it enables a healthy athlete a high intensity workout that is low impact. This will prevent injuries to muscles and joints.
- Swimming is great for cardiovascular fitness. Many high school athletes who are not accustomed to swimming will gain strength and an increased lung capacity.
Swimming lessons can help!
Swimming can help your child become a better athlete but will your child feel comfortable in the water? When was the last time they had a swimming lesson? If your older child or teen is not a strong swimmer, sign them up for swim lessons. Knowing how to float, tread water and swim to safety are critical survival skills.
We understand your growing kids might be embarrassed at the thought of having to take lessons with kids who are younger than they are. At Wisconsin Swim Academy, we tailor our classes to fit your child’s individual needs. We can make sure your older child or teen is paired with someone who is the same age and similar skill level (we even offer private lessons!). Most importantly, we will make sure they have the skills necessary to be safe and comfortable while in the pool.
Want to learn more about how Wisconsin Swim Academy can help? Give us a call at (920) 427-8286 or email us at swim@staging.wisconsinswim.flywheelsites.com today!