Ethan's Swimming lessons

 

We finally started Ethan on swim lessons mid-January this year under Coach Raymond held in Sengkang Swimming Complex. I used to believe that we should get Ethan started swimming from the age of 6, if not by last year when he was in P1. However, ah lou always think that he's way too short to get started then and finally decided to put him on lessons this year.

 

Prior to the official lessons, both ah lou and myself made some attempts to get him work on some of the basic stuff that swimming coaches adopt for beginners.. like kicking in the right manner (legs have to be straight), kicking with the swim board as part of the drills, breathing in water, putting the head in the water with the swim board while kicking to and fro, etc. I guess this helps him to be more confident when the official lessons start.

 

In Lesson 1:



Learning the right posture

The 3 new beginners - there was a young boy (5 yr old), who was so afraid of water, clinging on to the coach's back while he pulled the other 2 boys along to emphasize on the kicking posture.

Getting them to dive into the pool with the swim board

As part of the lesson routine, Ethan has to kick about 8 short laps in the pool as warm-ups. Thereafter, he has to practise his breathing while kicking with the swim board for another 8 short laps. During this process, Coach Raymond will correct his kicks or head postures along the way. By the 6th lesson, Ethan was asked to turn his head sideways on the 4th swing (which is part of the freestyle method) while kicking with the board. Each lesson, Ethan has to swim without a board towards Coach Raymond for about 5metres (the distance gets further if he can do it) as part of the training. So usually after each lesson, Ethan will be completely exhausted!

In Lesson 6:

waiting for his turn to do his individual swim

He has to swim towards coach without a board

Swimming with the help of the swim board while coach looks on

Group photo for the week (there were a few absentees)

We felt that Ethan made good progress so far. This is mostly attributed to Coach Raymond as he pushes his students quite hard. Amongst some other swimming coaches we had engaged for Caden, I think this coach seems to be the best, although I must say that he's really fierce! Hopefully by end of this year, my dear boy can swim well!