Deep water test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seven is pretty young. Part of swimming is gross motor skills, a neurodevelopmental issue. At that age, it’s normal for kids to have a fairly broad range of coordination, strength, and endurance.

The other issue is the quality of instruction at camps. Counselors are usually teens and young adults. They are selected for willingness, attitude, and desire to work for below minimum wage. (Camps are exempted from wage floors.) Counselors can have great hearts and provide the younger children with a lot of fun activities. However, they tend not to be trained in coaching or pedagogy. Their instruction isn’t always effective, or sometimes it’s just not the right fit for all kids.

I was a camp swimming instructor and actually had a ridiculous amount of training to do my job.

But teaching lessons in a lake is quite challenging- we actual did additional training courses at other camps prior to our camp to learn different instructional techniques. We used to lose so much time during each lesson just to the process of coaxing kids into the water, getting them used to how the bottom felt, getting used to being able to see differently under water, etc. Once you account for all of those factors, there's still the fact that there isn't a wall to hold onto, there's no smooth bottom to stand on, there's wind and currents, etc. A lot of swimming lessons in lakes start from standing in the shallows so that itself is tricky because kids need to learn to transition from a standing position to a prone swimming position. If they're holding on to a dock, many are shocked by the dock looming a bit over them and the lack of a wall to push off of. I had kids who were clearly strong pool swimmers but could barely grasp pushing off the lake bottom from the shallows and getting to a swimming position- they would just keep dropping their feet down and popping their head up. I had swim team kids cry about touching the bottom or touching a dock or the scary dock shadows.

Anyway, all that is to say that OP, you need to just be patient with this and be grateful your kids have an introduction to this kind of swimming. It will be a gradual process unless you're practicing in the same kind of environment at home or on other vacations.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the posters saying that your kid isn’t getting enough, consistent, year round swim practice. That is what it takes to be a strong swimmer.

[Anonymous]

Ugh a lake? I’m an adult and won’t swim freestyle in a lake. The water is dark and deep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you practice the treading water part? My kid's camp had a 1 minute treading water component to the test and lots of kids failed it because its just not something they do regularly - even kids who were top of the swim team. Practice.

Yes we practice - we don’t have a pool but some friends do and we go on vacation. She’s had swim lessons 2x at 6wks each. Something isn’t clicking.

Can you join a community pool or a YMCA?
What worked for my kids was just going to the pool pretty much every day for a few months.

[Anonymous]

What is the fail point? Is your kid lacking the swimming ability, the physical conditioning and stamina, the psychological fortitude...

It's hard to help say what might be best next steps since nobody here knows what the whole problem is. Why is your kid failing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lake is different. I have been a WSI and taught in both pools and lakes, the latter at summer camp. I have had year-round swim team kids who just couldn’t translate pool skills to the lake, and other kids who started as relatively weak swimmers but had only ever swam in the lake who became very reliable strong lake swimmers.

7 is little and stopping in the middle of open water and treading water is physically challenging for a kid who usually has a walk to grab after a lap. My DD has some friends dealing with this right now and still struggling at age 10-11. I’m an open water swimmer and I see adults also struggle with this when they try their first open water swims. The mental side of it is even harder.

You’ll need to do a lot more swim lessons at home to build endurance but it would also be good to try to vacation somewhere where you can get her more comfortable with non-pool water.

This. Lake and ocean swimming are much more difficult than swimming in a pool. A lot of people who do triathalons almost drown because of this. My sil had to be dragged out of the ocean by other competitors because the event was poorly managed.

[Anonymous]

Where is your kid on the issue? IME kids need to have that internal drive to do this kind of thing--mine were very much motivated by wearing the coveted "black band" that deep water swimmers got. If this isn't herder for it perhaps some one-on-one classes could help her skills and confidence.

[Anonymous]

My kid is 6 and my experience is his classmates are all over the place. One girl in his year is nailing her strokes and beating older kids, some are struggling to swim underwater.

I do think doing winter swim lessons inside helps a lot as kids can regress easily.

[Anonymous]

How much does she swim outside of camp? Other friends probably have gotten a lot more instruction and swim a lot. I wouldn't send my kid to a camp where they swim in a lake unless they can float on their back and tread water for a couple of minutes. Sounds dangerous otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh a lake? I’m an adult and won’t swim freestyle in a lake. The water is dark and deep.

Psychology may be at play here.

Where is this lake, is it man made — the middle of the lake implies it is tiny?

As a teen I did 1 mile loops in our lake in NE, and it can be unnerving how far you are from shore and how the water is absolutely black and dark. Of course I think sometimes I swam at night — the bravado of the 90s!

Pool swimming is much easier to focus on instruction — the floor is easy to reach, the water is warm and comfortable, and you can do small groups or private lessons.

Learning to swim in a group setting at a lake sounds like marketing!

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Florida and still have a bit of a mental block on lake swimming because of it (I knew a kid who died of naegleria). I ocean swim fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Florida and still have a bit of a mental block on lake swimming because of it (I knew a kid who died of naegleria). I ocean swim fine.

This is part of why i asked about where it was — lake swimming when it’s warm is dangerous, but New England kettle lakes are pretty safe (for now who knows with global warming)

That’s crazy, there have only been 164 cases in the US, and you know one

[Anonymous]

I’m a strong swimmer, my kids are good swimmers, and I wouldn’t want any of us to swim in a lake without a life vest on. Way too many unknowns, water temp changes etc. Literally anyone can get a cramp, and they’ll never rescue you in a lake. They may not even find your body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Florida and still have a bit of a mental block on lake swimming because of it (I knew a kid who died of naegleria). I ocean swim fine.

This is part of why i asked about where it was — lake swimming when it’s warm is dangerous, but New England kettle lakes are pretty safe (for now who knows with global warming)

That’s crazy, there have only been 164 cases in the US, and you know one

I didn't know him that well, but he went to my church in Orlando and they did a big prayer event for him when he was in the hospital. This was back almost 20 years ago now.