Mom & Tot Swim Class

For 8 days in August (spread out over the course of 2 weeks) Kate and I joined Becca and Ava for a Mommy and tot swim class at a local city program. Kate didn't become an Olympic Gold-medalist swimmer upon completion of the class, but she definitely learned quite a few skills, like blowing bubbbles, kicking her feet, holding her breath and not swallowing water when dunking underwater. It also taught me a lot of coaching skills for helping Kate practice. We're definitely going to have to keep working on it by ourselves and with future classes. I thought, though, that this first class was very helpful and well worth the 8 day investment of time.

Kate also really enjoyed taking the class with Ava. Every day during our drive to the pool she would say Ava's name over and over. And as soon as we got to the pool she would start up with, "Where Ava?" I think having a playmate there definitely made the lessons less scary and more social for Kate. She is quite the social butterfly.

My only complaint was the temperature of the pools. They had us practicing in the competition pools and they were freezing. Kate was shivering and hugging me tightly for warmth by the end of most classes. I *think* that they kept the lap pools a little cooler because lap swimmers prefer cooler water temperatures when they are exercising. And the obvious answer is that they save money. Neither of these answers have been confirmed but it was the only thing I could come up with.

Since our class, though, we've practiced in warmer temperature water and Kate has enjoyed it so much more. For the next class I will definitely do a little more investigation on the water temperature before I subject Kate to it again. Brrrrr...

I took a few pictures of Kate and Ava before and after classes during the two weeks. I couldn't take any during the class since I was participating in the pool too. At least Kate was still smiling in the "after" class pictures. I just love the last few pictures of the two of them holding their certificates. They might not have really understood what was going on but Becca and I were very proud of the girls.
Posted by Jean-Marie at August 22, 2005 07:55 PM
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