Anonymous wrote:I think it’s possible to do in one day depending on the kids age and if the are used to being in the shallow end of the pool , will willingly float and will submerge themselves willingly. Then yeah I think they could get the basics of freestyle by learning the stoke and then practicing it while at the pool in one day. They aren’t going to be amazing but they will be able to swim.
I doubt it... not for most anyway. Learning to swim is very much like learning language - the earlier/younger you start, the more readily and quickly they will learn. Sure, there are always some outliers but they will be few and far between.
There is a HUGE psychological and emotional component to learning how to swim. If a child has reached the age of 10, or older, an adult, there is going to be not a small amount of fear/baggage that they have acquired that will need to be de-programed and overcome in order to learn how to and master just the basics so as to be minimally safe in water that is over their heads and just several strokes from a wall safety. There is no shortcut here - just time and exposure and then more time and exposure. If you can get a teacher that knows what they are doing and there is chemistry/trust between the student and teacher, the process will be more efficient but it won't be a day and probably won't be a week either.
This is why it is so important to start early and often.
Good luck and keep us posted on what you find and end up doing and how things turn out.