Swimming phase 2
Saturday, 13th September 2008 by julieWhen I last posted about Jonathan’s swimming lessons, we were all ready to go straight back on for the following term. However the Waterbabies group in our area was having all manner of organisational difficulties, and that idea fell flat.
I was still fairly keen to keep up Jon’s swimming, albeit with a term’s forced break, and decided to follow the example of some friends by using the (budget) lessons at our local council’s pool instead. Having left the decision rather late, we only just squeaked in, with Jon claiming the last place available for the autumn term of the “Aqua Tots 1″ class.
So the end of the summer holidays (July and August here in the UK) found me taking Jon over to the pool for a social visit to give him a little intro to, what was after all, a very different set up to that which he’d last swum in.
For starters, the pool was about 5 degrees cooler at 30°C, and about 4 times the size. Jon’s initial impression was not a favourable one and he made this known with a lot of whining and general moaning as we gradually submerged. I think the water temperature was largely to blame because once he was wet all over, the whining stopped and he started to have more fun.
Fast-forward one week and it was time for our first lesson. This time, Jonathan appeared to recognise what was coming because there were all sorts of excited little noises when he saw the pool, and he had a huge grin across his face as soon as we got into the water. (After the dramatics of the week before, the revised response was a relief.)
Yesterday we went again, and he was, if anything, more excited. At every opportunity there was lots of splashing, lots of wriggling and lots of enjoyment – only slightly muted when I did the exercises with him on his back — not the preferred position! So overall, if I could do it all again, all I would change would be the term’s break. And it seems I can look forward to some very happy Friday afternoons. 
