According to data from Swim England, 72% of children in Year Seven meet the guidelines to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25m.
This is a figure that’s actually decreased over time, leading to the national governing body for swimming calling for pools to be more accessible and children to be encouraged to undertake swimming lessons.
HuffPost UK spoke with Olympic silver medalist Izzy Thorpe and Swim England CEO Andy Salmon to understand the benefits of children learning to swim beyond just exercise and how parents can convince reluctant kids to take to the pool.
Getting children back into swimming — all you need to know
What are the benefits of children learning to swim, and is it easier to learn as a child than as an adult?
Andy Salmon: In any sort of physical activity, it’s well proven that children are more adaptable, more amenable to learning, but I think that’s true of any physical activity or sport.
The benefits go beyond that in terms of swimming. It’s a life skill, in its purest sense that means that you’re much less likely to drown or get into difficulty around water.
You’re able to enjoy a vast amount of sports and physical activities. 84% of parents that we’ve spoken to have reported that swimming lessons have helped their children’s confidence and self-esteem.
68% of parents that we spoke to also said the lessons made it easier for their children to make friends. In this day and age, most parents are concerned about the time that their children spend on social media so getting them physically active is in itself a win and a success.
To go beyond that, to improve concentration and make friends, makes a pretty compelling argument for any parent.
That’s so interesting, I didn’t consider concentration as a factor — could you explain more about this?
Izzy Thorpe: With social media and how fast everything is, when you’re scrolling through TikTok, your attention span is held for such a short amount of time when you’re watching it and getting small dopamine hits.
This is why with swimming lessons, it’s so important that kids get that same dopamine hit, have fun, but you’re concentrating for longer periods of time.
Andy Salmon: 7 out of 10 parents said that swimming lessons improved their children’s concentration.
This is great for children who are learning to swim or excited to learn to swim, but how can swimming be made more welcoming to children who are more nervous about water?
Izzy Thorpe: I hope for children, the Olympics has inspired a lot of kids to get into sport and swimming lessons, and feel encouraged and a little less nervous.
I also think that having friends there can help you feel less nervous. Maybe a consistent teacher that’s always at the pool that the child feels safe returning to. A lot of swim teachers do a great job of making swimming feel comfortable.
Hopefully the Olympics have improved children’s interest in swimming and sports in general. For children who are hesitant to do sports or even leave their homes, how can parents encourage lessons?
Izzy Thorpe: When I was younger, the appeal for me was meeting new people, making friends, or even having my friends go along with me.
Andy Salmon: We don’t get expect parents to go to their child and say, “Do you realise your concentration is going to improve by 70%?” Instead, we want parents to feel that swimming is important in their children’s lives.
Children don’t need to be fast, they just need to feel safe and making friends when swimming or taking friends can be the key to making lessons more exciting.
To get your children involved in swimming lessons visit swimming.org/poolfinder.