Learning to Swim - Getting in the Pool

David Penland: My name's David Penland and I'm with the Northern Virginia Swim League and this morning I'm going to help to teach you how to teach your child how to swim.

The first thing we're going to do this morning is we're going to talk about getting into the pool. When you get into the pool with your child, it's very important that you always make sure that you're very comfortable. Your child will feed off of how you get into the pool. If you get into the pool and it's cold and you're shocked, your child will be shocked. So make sure that you're comfortable, you're relaxed, and you get used to the water.

This morning I have Thomas and Thomas is going to help to show us how to get into the pool. Thomas we're going to use the rail right here, you're going to take my hand we're going to step into the pool. How does the water feel?

Thomas: Good.

David Penland: Feels good? Alright. Okay, very good. Using the stairs is not the only way to get into the water. In fact, in many pool you don't have stairs. Sometimes you'll have to use a ladder or you can just jump in the pool, but always make sure when you get in the pool that you check how deep the water is and make sure that if there is a No Diving sign posted that you don't dive into that section of the pool.

Next thing we're going to talk about is once you're already in the water, we are going to start talking about blowing bubbles and how you can get your child to be more comfortable while they are in water.