GRADUATE
Swimming Lessons & Squads

Q: When should a child STOP swimming lessons?
​A: When the child becomes a strong and safe swimmer

We see swimming lessons, like road safety, as one of the few life skills that your child must try to master according to their abilities. But swimming lessons should not go on forever. There must be a point where your child can graduate...

And there is!!

We have designed a unique program that instructs, motivates and propels your child along the learn to swim journey. At Babies to KIDS Swim School we use our 3B*12M system. Our system is based on over 25 years of direct teaching experience and careful observation of results in the process of learning to swim. Our lessons are fun, professionally structured and progressive.

The 3Bs refer to:

• balance
• breath control
• body position

The 3B's are essential precursors of learning to swim at any level. The *12M refers to 12 milestones. ​Look at our 12 milestone flow chart.

To be considered a strong and safe swimmer we believe that there are 12 vital milestones for your child to learn. We know that there are specific and crucial turning points that focus on quality technique and efficiency before distance.

When a child falls into a backyard pool, it is efficiency over a short distance that kicks in when it comes to survival. Water is a fantastic playground.

There are other important aquatic skills that your child will learn along the way, but here are the key ones:

1. ​Swordfish 2 metres from push off wall
2. Deep water jump & correctly return to safety
3. Swim 5m freestyle correctly
4. Survival scull deep water correctly
5. Swim 25m backstroke correctly
6. Swim 25m freestyle correctly
7. Tread deep water correctly

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Graduate Babies to KIDS

Your child at this point is recognized by Babies to KIDS Swim School as having adequate swimming skills and ready to further refine these skills in the more challenging environment of our SpeedSquad.

SpeedSquad is not about serious hard-edged competition. SpeedSquad is all about including every one that has come through learn to swim lessons in our FAST FRIENDLY FISHLIKE FUN!!!

We sometimes time our squad swimmers not for competitive reasons. We time them as a measure of efficiency. Efficiency equals speed. But better efficiency also means saving energy. And that means that your child has a better chance of surviving real life aquatic hazards, such as falling into deep water or experiencing an ocean rip.

There are five more milestones to go:

1. Swim 25m breaststroke correctly
2. Swim 25m butterfly correctly
3. Swim 50m freestyle correctly and efficiently with a racing dive
4. Swim 50m butterfly, breast stroke or backstroke correctly and efficiently
5. Swim 100m individual medley correctly and efficiently -- it's the quality that matters

And that's the end point, folks!! ... it's now time to celebrate all the practice and dedication. It means no more swimming lessons. It means that we recognise and reward your child's immense efforts, together with their incentive-based certificates gained along the way, with our Speedfish Gold Certificate ...

It also means that a whole gateway of aquatic experiences can now open up for your child to fulfill -- but safely, with correct, efficient skill and confidence. From school swimming carnivals to water polo, snorkeling, surfing, water skiing, participating with all types of vessels on the water and so on!!

Your child is now recognised at Babies to KIDS Swim School as being a strong and safe swimmer. Your child actually GRADUATES swimming lessons and squads. And this is more likely to lead to a life-long love of swimming and continued learning!!! Remember that no matter how strong any human being is at swimming -- they must swim within their limits and ALWAYS be closely supervised by a competent adult.

Graduate SpeedSquad

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