Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By 3 our girls could go off the diving board, go under from the jump, and swim to the side of the diving well. I'd find a better teacher or program.

NP. This is unusually young. I taught swim lessons for ten years to ages 2-10 and only ever had a handful of kids who could do that before the age of 3.

It is definitely unusually young but I taught one of my babies to swim underwater when she was between 6 and 9 months. She could climb up to the diving board by 2 and jump in the deep end, swim to the ladder and climb out. By the time a child is 2 or 3 they become more fearful and somewhat headstrong and it is harder to teach them than when they are still nonverbal infants. Seems like most parents are too cautious themselves to do what I did but I had read a book with a specific technique and it worked well with my child.

Anonymous wrote:DS is seven and still can’t swim. We totally messed up on this by waiting to start until five. Now he’s afraid of the water and was the only boy in his camp class who couldn’t swim.

My nephews in Southern California were both swimming across this width of the pool and underwater by 2.5.1

Yes, my Florida born child could swim by 2.5 or so. Not strokes, obviously, but he could jump in, pop up, and swim underwater the width of a backyard swimming pool.

My daughter became a really strong swimmer at around age 7 and had been taking group lessons off and on since she was like 2.

However my nephew is 3 and he swims like a fish. His parents have their own pool in their backyard and he takes private swim lessons so I think that was a big contributing factor.

Mine taught himself at 2 bc he wanted to go off the diving board like his sister who was 4.

DD1 could swim by herself right before she turned 4. She couldn’t float until 4.5.

Anonymous wrote:By 3 our girls could go off the diving board, go under from the jump, and swim to the side of the diving well. I'd find a better teacher or program.

NP. This is unusually young. I taught swim lessons for ten years to ages 2-10 and only ever had a handful of kids who could do that before the age of 3.

Mine started lessons when he turned 5 and by 6 he was very comfortable in the pool. I can’t say he’s a great swimmer but he does fine.

DS is seven and still can’t swim. We totally messed up on this by waiting to start until five. Now he’s afraid of the water and was the only boy in his camp class who couldn’t swim.

My nephews in Southern California were both swimming across this width of the pool and underwater by 2.5.1

6ish. Group lessons. Did a few private ones with my older kids, just to get them a little more independent. No one went on to swim competitively, but they're all decent.

Anonymous wrote:This is a self-selecting group, so I think you're hearing from a lot of folks with younger swimmers. Mine took lessons from a very young age but didn't really learn to swim til around age 6-7. They are 14 and 11 now and swim for summer swim teams and the younger one is on a winter team as well.

Yeah maybe. My kid learned to propel forward just before age 5. But I have a nephew who won't even get in the pool, who is also 5. Kids can vary widely. You have to know your kid. You can not force a child to learn to swim if they are fearful.

Anonymous wrote:Oldest swam at 6. It's a body composition thing. Some kids just sink so need stronger swimming skills to get them.from A to B. My young guy is a chunk at 2 and can swim short distances already. It helps he doesn't sink like a stone.

^^ Body composition can matter a lot. My athletic, coordinated, skin-and-bones daughter could, at six, after a year of lessons, maybe make it a single stroke before going under. At the same age, with less time in the water, my clumsy, physically inept, chubby son could paddle around happily.

OP here. Thank you everyone. I think I have a better sense of what to expect now.

Age 4

Did group lessons through park takes (Fx county) starting at 3, pretty much when the kids were old enough to enroll, and pretty much year round (continuing to enroll).

At 5.5 the kids joined a club swim team, where free and back were legal strokes.

I think group lessons are actually better

Age 6 for older son - after whole summer of camp with daily 2x swimming and weekly private lessons

Age 5.5 for younger children but after only 3 weeks of same program (daily 2x swimming at summer camp and a weekly private lessons).

This is a self-selecting group, so I think you're hearing from a lot of folks with younger swimmers. Mine took lessons from a very young age but didn't really learn to swim til around age 6-7. They are 14 and 11 now and swim for summer swim teams and the younger one is on a winter team as well.