As a mom, I always worry about my kids and their safety. Besides making them aware of “stranger danger”, the next thing on my list has been teaching them how to swim at a very early age.
Lucky for us when we moved from the Dallas area to San Antonio, we chose a neighborhood with a swim team. Little did we know what a great choice it would be for our then 4 month old boy.
As much as I was determined to teach him how to swim, he was determined to not learn! I tried private lessons over several summers and switching off with various family members in hopes that our head strong 4 year old would be open to finally taking off his “floaties!” It wasn’t until we signed him up for our neighborhood swim team at the age of 5 that finally made him take the literal plunge into swimming!
As it would turn out for our super competitive son, the key to his learning how to swim was seeing it as a sport. Throughout his entire life, he has embraced new challenges and has played baseball, basketball,lacrosse,soccer and now high school football. It would have been so easy to give up on swimming all those years ago. The fact that we had such easy access to swim coaches was pivotal for us as busy parents.
Our younger twins had a much easier time learning to swim, they seem to come about it quite naturally. I give credit to Kinetic Kids for teaching our daughter with special needs how to swim. I never worry when Catherine jumps in the deep end of the pool or goes off the high dive. The swim coaches in their program spend an extra amount of time with the swimmers in teaching how to tread water and swimming to the edge of the pool. Her next step is learning basic strokes so she can move even faster in the water.
Our daughter Savannah was anxious to join our neighborhood swim team the minute that she was old enough. I was surprised at the number of strokes that she could master so easily. Not only did she appreciate it as a sport, she absolutely loved the fact that she could see her friends during swim season so often. Social season for us is swim season! And we were sad when it had to end this year.
So when I was asked to attend a local blogger event for Swim Today to learn about their campaign to promote awareness of swimming, I wanted to take the entire team! Since my girls were at various camps for the week and my car is only so big, I asked the girls that live behind us to go with me. I’ve watched them grow up over the years. I knew that they would love the chance to swim with the 5-time Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres.
The Natatorium was packed with swimmers and fans for the Phillips 66 National Championships. . Kylee and Abby have been swimming at the Northside Swim Center for several years at our swim team divisional meets held in July. They were more than surprised to see the venue taken over by so many athletes. It gave them a lasting impression of how their hard work in swimming can turn into the possibility of competing in high school or at an Olympic level.
I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to live in a city that promotes the sport of swimming. Not only has it made it easy for me to make sure my kids learn to swim, it has built confidence in them through competition and life long friendships.
And it’s hot in San Antonio!
Swimming is cool.
Stay Sassy Y’all.
The event was sponsored by Swim Today. They made a donation to Kinetic Kids so a child with special needs will be able to learn how to swim!
Laura,
I loved your entry about our community and the positive impact swimming has made for your kids. The pictures were AWESOME! We would love it if you would consider sharing them with us for the Stingray website.
Rick
Thank you Rick! Of course I will! And thank you for all your hard work over the years to make it such a great experience for our neighborhood!