Outdoor swim lessons for 18-month-old? Private pool clubs with loose geographic eligibility rules?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a good place to enroll my daughter in OUTDOOR swim lessons this summer? She will be eighteen months old in June, and this will be her first exposure to water outside the bathtub. I assume at this age we're talking "mommy and me"-type classes, which would be fine with me.

Relatedly, I am open to joining a private pool club. However, I live in the U Street area, so outside the geographic boundary of the neighborhood-serving clubs that I am aware of. I'm also open to becoming a non-golf member of a country club with pool facilities, but I'm not sure which clubs, if any, would have openings in the near term. Any suggestions on either front?

I'm also open to a municipal program but don't know which ones, if any, are well run.

I am aware of the swim programs at the JCC and the YMCA, but I really want DD's first exposure to swimming to involve an outdoor pool during summer months as opposed to the echoes and intense chlorine smell of an indoor pool. I guess I'm just a country girl in that way!

Cross-posting in the camps forum.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Chlorine is Chlorine. Not really understanding the difference between the outdoor pool and indoor .

[Anonymous]

not to mention that there's no sunscreen hassle with an indoor pool and the water in indoor pools for teaching lessons is often at a higher temp so kids stay warm.

[Anonymous]

Lessons? I don't know. But find an outdoor pool and take her yourself! I'm surprised you've waited this long! We took our son swimming starting at... 3 months?

[Anonymous]

You can purchase a summer membership for the pools at the Hilton on Connecticut Ave for the Shoreham as well. I think the Courtyard by Marriott on Connecticut also has summer memberships. All are within a mile or so of U Street. I'm not sure if any offer lessons though.

[Anonymous]

http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-my-child-ready-for-swim-lessons_69356.bc

Most kids aren't developmentally ready for formal swim lessons till they are 3.

Looking for a Mommy and me class is probably a better bet.

[Anonymous]

If you're cool with coming out to Virginia, check with the Knights of Columbus in North Arlington.

Closer to home, I'd google the number for the pool at East Potomac Park (by the golf course and Hains Point) and see if they offer lessons. It's a public pool.

[Tnemirovsky]

I've heard that the Washington Sports Club in Columbia Heights just started a kids swimming program. It is an indoor pool but has lots of sunlight exposure and very convenient location!

Just a thought...