Survival Swim Lessons teaches children safety and confidence in the water. After years of traditional swim lessons, I thought my 5 year old would never learn. That was until we discovered ISR (infant self-rescue) and Infant Aquatic lessons in our area. These classes changed everything. I will share our experience by answering commonly asked questions.

Week 1

Nolan (5) wouldn’t open his eyes underwater

Austin (2) cried and wouldn’t relax

Week 6

BOTH can float and swim back to safety. The love the water!

I had my doubts during the first two weeks. I cried on the phone with one of my friends telling her I couldn’t keep this up. Part of my struggles was the fact that while both boys were in lessons, I had my 7 month old with us. For the 20 minute lessons, I was bouncing a baby while sweating in the pool room. The hardest part of swim was me managing 3 children, 2 of which were soaking wet and needed my help changing them post swim. After I established a routine with how to get ready for and after swim, things went smoothly. It was still hard but I was able to manage myself better.

How to find survival swim lessons near you:

This is the easiest part. Start by searching “survival swim lessons near me” in your search engine. We’ve done lessons through Infant Aquatics and ISR Self-Rescue. Both programs are excellent. It just depends on which is available near you. I decided I wanted to try these types of lessons after seeing friends on social media sharing their children’s success with these programs.

Why survival swim vs regular swim lessons:

Survival swim programs are designed to teach swimming as a life saving skill. Your child will learn how to roll onto their backs into a float to rest and breathe before swimming to safety. Learning how to float is essential and not the focus in most regular swim lessons. I found regular swim lessons lacking in leading children to rest and respect the water. This is just based on my experience with numerous styles of lessons.

STORY TIME (my why)

When Ryan deployed in 2019, I enrolled my then 3 year old in lessons with Infant Aquatics near my parents’ home in Ohio. I loved watching my son in those lessons. He thrived with his instructors. Unfortunately, we were only able to complete 4 out of the 6 week lessons, due to a family emergency with the instructor and our return to California. Then we had a swift cross country move after Ryan returned home. This gap didn’t help Nolan’s swimming. He lost a lot of confidence in the water and we had to start completely over. At first there wasn’t any survival swim lessons so I enrolled him in regular swim lessons. It was a waste of our time. Nolan basically ran the class and ended up only willing to put his face in the water with goggles. After 20 private swim lessons, I was convinced my son would never learn how to swim. He loved being in the water but had no desire to swim independently. That was until an ISR swim program finally came to our area. I signed him up immediately hoping for a similar experience as he has in Ohio 2 years prior.

What is the investment and time commitment:

We went from paying $150 for (5) private regular 30 swim lessons. It was an absolute waste of money. The cost for ISR near me was $200 a week for 6 weeks for both kids to have 10 minute lessons each. Yes, it’s a lot of money. But it is 100% worth it. We afforded it by asking family members to gift swim lessons instead of birthday and holiday gifts.

What to expect/What are the classes like:

The lessons for us were 10 minutes long. Before you dismiss this as “not enough time.” Let me assure you it’s plenty. Each lesson the instructor focuses on a specific skill. The first week is about your child getting comfortable with the instructor and water. The classes are designed to teach intuitive swimming. Our instructor said, “the way I teach it like how they learn how to walk.” By the last week, your child will be tested in the water fully dressed. My sons swam fully clothes in their summer clothes with shoes, winter clothes with jackets and boots and pajamas. They had to learn how to get to safety while without being distracted by not having swim clothes. We even did a life jacket lesson to teach them what to do if they fall overboard off our boat. (PICTURE swimming in winter clothes Nov 2021).

Are there a lot of tears:

I won’t sugarcoat this. Depending on your child’s age the first week might be overwhelming. My 2.5 year old did cry. I also have a tendency to “awkward laugh” when I’m uncomfortable. Despite this, the instructor is calm and reassuring. I had to remind myself that my child is safe and he is learning a life skill. He’s also with a stranger doing something new. What helped us was after the second week, my husband took our kids to one lesson. They loved showing off their skills to dad that no more tears returned when I took them next.

Best age to start:

I think 2 is the perfect age but it’s never too late to start. Two years olds are curious and eager to accomplish tasks. I saw my two year olds confidence blossom. He loves the water so much now. According to our instructor, you can start your child as early as 6 months. I will start my youngest this fall at 18 months. I will report back how I feel about this age in these lessons.

What’s happens after the 6 weeks:

Next are Refresher courses 6 months after completing the program. Each month we aim to taking the boys to our nearby pool to practice. At the pool we practice the swim/ float / swim routine they know. Then we practice locating exits out of the pool (ladders, stairs) and safety getting out. We do this all 3x before playtime in the pool. We also do not use floatation devices in the pool. According to our instructor, “using flotation devices during recreational pool swimming will undo safe and efficient self-rescue aquatic skills.” The only exception is the boys wear life jackets when on our boat.

Swimming is a life skill that I didn’t master as a child. My insecurity in the water isn’t something I wanted to pass down.
Now, my sons can swim. The love the water. They ask to go to the pool every week. My parents also have a pool at their home, which made me motivated to teach them water safety. I feel much peace about them being around water now. They have survival swim skills. If there’s an survival swim course near you, enroll your children.

It’s the best investment we’ve made. I will never stop recommending this.

If you have any other questions about it, feel free to ask!