Babies are learning how to splash with glee as more and more parents are taking their tiny tots for swimming lessons in the city
Kids learn at the Nisha Millet Swimming Academy
We have clearly come a long way from the times when tough swimming instructors would suddenly push you towards the ‘deep end’ of the pool and coughing up a litre of water was ordinary for an average swimming lesson. No longer is learning how to swim a terrifying prospect – instead, young parents in the city are taking their children to the pools when they are as young as six months old, to give them a taste of the waters. It’s also the best way to teach them young!
Arjuna Award winner and the founders of one of the city’s most progressive swimming camps, Nisha Millet believes in the value of parents being present when really young kids are getting a feel of the water. Raring to start a camp involving kids this week, Nisha says, “This is instilled swimming – a kind of exercise where parents should let their kids enjoy the water. I get thousands of mails enquiring about the minimum age for camps I organise but I cannot stress enough on how important it is that the parents be present during their kid’s lessons. Kids and their affinity to water will vary and no one knows it better than the parents. For my own two and half year old twins – one loves it and one does not. Also, make sure that the pool is at an optimum temperature. Not too warm or cold.”
For most Bengaluru parents, though, swimming is no longer an extra-curricular activity but a necessary life skill. Or so feels Jai Gill who owns the city franchise of the Michael Phelps Swim School . Jai says, “We haven’t even begun marketing our new classes for kids between six months and three years and we’ve already received about sixty enquiries from new parents. We are about to introduce these classes in January in the city and the focus is not on teaching them strokes but to have them enjoy the water with their parents.”
Mother of two and corporate professional, Jaysheel Anand has been taking her tiny tots to swim ever since they were six months old. She says, “Bengaluru has very limited options for kids to be outdoors and swimming is a great way for them to also gain immunity while exercising. While teaching my younger child to swim I had to make sure that I got over my own fear of water. They really enjoy it and I allow them to swim in all kinds of weather.”
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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