Before every new swimming class, many parents or students will always ask: “How many lessons then my child will be able to swim?” or “How long would it take before I can do freestyle?”
These few questions are undoubtedly valid concerns from anyone who is trying out swimming for the first time or even for parents who enrol their children for swim lessons. The short answer to this is that there is no specific timeline as to when someone can swim on their own independently. Swimming as a sport itself has many components involved and multiple skill sets to acquire before one can truly “swim” in water. Everyone is different and come from various background. Some students who enrol for swimming for the first time may have water trauma experience or near drowning experiences compared to others who has been exposed to the pool before or has been self-taught by peers and parents on being comfortable with water. There is no apple-to-apple comparison and even for coaches alike, some teaching methods may be ideal for certain individuals but may not be so for others. Ultimately, the more objective question that one should ask is “What do I want to achieve in learning swimming?” instead of “How many lessons before I can swim?”.
The short answer to this is that there is no specific timeline as to when someone can swim on their own independently.
Everyone knows that the objective for attending swimming classes is to ultimately be able to swim. All students who attend swimming lessons would eventually know how to swim however, parents and student’s expectations are always different. Perhaps some may want to just learn how to swim a short distance using breastroke while some may want to hit 50m freestyle in less than 30 seconds, or maybe a student who takes up swim classes just want to be able to float in water. Achievements vary again with individuals but with a specific need in mind on “What do I want to achieve in learning swimming?”, this helps to narrow down a certain expectation and coaches would then be able to give a more concrete advice on how to work towards that need which the student wants.
Once again, there is no fixed timeline or formula to master how to swim but more importantly before asking oneself on what one should achieve in swimming. The most important aspect while learning this sport is to always have fun when learning a new skill. Having fun makes time go faster and before you know it, you will be swimming on your own!