Swim Teams are a great way to "Keep Your Kids Clean".
While my main objective as a teacher is water safety, I am a strong proponent of swim teams. My own 2 boys (now 43
and 47) swam on a team from the time they were 4 years old. They continued to swim through high school and college, and added
water polo to their agenda. Competetive swimming is a sport in which children are " competing" only against
themselves as they watch their times get faster and faster as a result of their own efforts. Children who adopt swimming as
a part of their lives are less tempted to become involved with potentially harmful activities such as drugs or gangs. They
develop a sense of self-worth and a need to keep their bodies in top shape. Injuries are far less common than in some other
team or contact sports. Most competetive swimmers do very well in school. They have learned how to set realistic goals and
strive to achieve them. There is also a wonderful sense of belonging and comraderie resulting in life-long friendships.
Swim teams are not usually designed for "teaching", however. I
recommend swim team after a child is fairly proficient at freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and has some idea of butterfly.
Most local teams are familiar with my swimmers, and accept them readily onto the team once they have reached these goals.
