July 18, 2009: Adult Swimming Lessons: A Modest Proposal
A raft of afraid adult non-swimmers who are hopeful swimming students and another raft of children who are also afraid in water are suffering through lessons that cannot meet them at their level.
The Red Cross, the YMCA, Starfish Aquatics, and swimming schools do not believe there's anything missing from their program. What, students quit? Fail? Struggle? Not my problem, they say.
I believe it is. It saw it was mine when my swim students weren't "getting it" in 1979 and I re-examined what the Red Cross Beginning class requirements were. Beginning swimming skills were too advanced for my beginners at the college level. The requirements haven't changed in any measurable degree, though they may seem so.
How about a contest? The Red Cross, the YMCA, Starfish, and Miracle Swimming each land 3 adults who are afraid to put their faces in water and are afraid in deep water. We all meet at a warm pool for two days. We have 10 hours to work with our 3 students. Our classes are observed by 3 impartial swimming instructors who have at least 10 years' swimming instructional experience. All students receive the same feedback form, created by the impartial observers (is it possible to find such people?).
We find out which program was most successful, most popular, most valuable according to the students and observers.
Why?
To elevate the quality of swimming instruction in the United States to the highest level possible. To learn from each other. To help the rafts of non-swimmers who are hurting and discouraged. To win back the boatload who have given up altogether years ago, having tried one too many times and failed. To move toward a national swimming instruction program that has the power to reduce preventable drowning to zero. If we had such a national program in place now, we'd see drowning statistics falling. They're rising. And still, 70% of them are adults.
The Red Cross, the YMCA, Starfish Aquatics, and swimming schools do not believe there's anything missing from their program. What, students quit? Fail? Struggle? Not my problem, they say.
I believe it is. It saw it was mine when my swim students weren't "getting it" in 1979 and I re-examined what the Red Cross Beginning class requirements were. Beginning swimming skills were too advanced for my beginners at the college level. The requirements haven't changed in any measurable degree, though they may seem so.
How about a contest? The Red Cross, the YMCA, Starfish, and Miracle Swimming each land 3 adults who are afraid to put their faces in water and are afraid in deep water. We all meet at a warm pool for two days. We have 10 hours to work with our 3 students. Our classes are observed by 3 impartial swimming instructors who have at least 10 years' swimming instructional experience. All students receive the same feedback form, created by the impartial observers (is it possible to find such people?).
We find out which program was most successful, most popular, most valuable according to the students and observers.
Why?
To elevate the quality of swimming instruction in the United States to the highest level possible. To learn from each other. To help the rafts of non-swimmers who are hurting and discouraged. To win back the boatload who have given up altogether years ago, having tried one too many times and failed. To move toward a national swimming instruction program that has the power to reduce preventable drowning to zero. If we had such a national program in place now, we'd see drowning statistics falling. They're rising. And still, 70% of them are adults.
