The next time you head to the pool for swimming lessons,
consider the life skills your children are learning as well.
We all know that swimming offers many benefits: it’s a great form of exercise, and you meet like-minded people of all ages and from all walks of life. However, there is a lot more going on - both in and out of the pool - than meets the eye.
Bottom line: lessons learned at the pool teach us valuable skills we use in everyday life -
- Organizational skills: Forget your suit and goggles, and you are probably not going to swim! Boy Scouts have nothing on swimmers when it comes to the motto, “Be Prepared.”
- Follow directions: Swimmers must have the ability to listen well, process information, take direction and be led. A relationship based on trust between the swimmers and the instructor is a crucial ingredient to swimming success.
- Teamwork: Swimming is considered an individual sport, but when you are sharing a pool with other people you are working together as a team to achieve a common goal.
- Hard Work: The sport of swimming requires strength and the willingness to work hard. In swimming, there are no shortcuts to the top.
- Discipline: Swimming is a demanding sport and it takes discipline and commitment to stick with it.
We think its pretty neat that skills learned in swim class extend beyond just swimming! Who knew a weekly swim class could provide valuable skills for an entire lifetime?!