We decided to start DiploBAby on Swimming lessons because he started wanting to jump into the pool without his Swimava Body Ring. He would swallow water and it was so scary.
In Germany the ability to swim is one of the life skills that they teach in school that’s why for me it’s so strange that we are in an archipelago and there are pools everywhere, yet swimming is something that is optional to teach.
So I said it’s time! We need him to learn to swim on his own for his safety. We had tried group swimming lessons before but it didn’t really teach him how to swim. And the price for a group lesson was only 2 hundred pesos less than a one on one session with Coach Jeff.
You can see a video of actual swimming lessons below!
COACH JEFF
Luckily I found a good swimming teacher when I was with Ali, a South African moving client. We were decluttering their home 2 weeks before they were about to leave and I saw that her 4 years old was crossing their pool by himself. I was so amazed so I got the number of their swimming coach, Coach Jeff.
Coach Jeff is patient, but focused and disciplined. I like this about him because we could see the improvement with every session. We also loved that he made swimming FUN using different techniques and toys so our son was always excited for sessions. It’s amazing how he words the different techniques in a way that are perfect for someone as young as our then 2 year old.
I definitely could not have taught my son in the way Coach Jeff has. I will leave swim coaching to professionals!
TO WATCH OR NOT TO WATCH
When parents are watching, kids can be self conscious or be distracted. They also have a tendency not to listen to their Coach and just start talking to the parents.
We observed this so after a few initial lessons, we would let him go and meet Coach Jeff with yaya. Then we show up for the last 10-15mins of his session.
When we watch we make sure not to interfere and baby our son, nor would we make any reactive sounds. I would also make sure to be chill and not be anxious or apprehensive so that our son would’t feel it and doubt himself or the Coach.
DiploBaby started swim lessons at 2.5 years old and by the time he was 3 he could already swim on his own at any depth and can cross the pool by himself. But our goal really was to have him do proper swimming strokes. You can see Coach Jeff teaching him how to freestyle here. (Swipe to the 2nd carousell) OMG it’s the cutest!
Unfortunately, we had to stop swimming lessons for 10 months now because at the beginning of the year we were finally traveling (we stopped for 2 years when TD had 2 unrelated cancers in the span of 2 years and he couldn’t walk after his bone cancer operation) and then the pandemic spurred the longest lockdown in the world.
They do not allow us to have guests in our pool, though guests at home are already allowed in limited numbers. I find this strange because with COVID-19 it’s actually safer to be in the outdoors of the pool plus the chlorine makes it safer to be in water.
I hope one day we can resume so he will finally know how to do the different strokes. In the video below you can see his first lessons on proper swimming strokes. I was really impressed!
Teacher Jeff also teaches adults how to swim so you can hire him to teach babies to adults. His contact details are below!
SWIM COACH JEFF ESCALONA
+63 916 515 9592 • +63 939 932 1135
READ: How we introduced DiploBaby to swimming & what floaters & warmers we recommend!
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