Children who are competent swimmers can swim in water independently, smoothly, and efficiently with good technique. Universally, the vast majority of parents sign up for children’s swimming lessons in order for their kids to become competent swimmers.

Swimming Looks Easy But, Learning Swimming Is A Process

When you watch good swimmers in any FINA World Championships or the Olympics, swimming looks easy. But swimming is very technical and learning it takes time. Swimming is more than just moving arms, and kicking legs and blowing bubbles in the water 

Like playing a musical instrument or speaking another language; it requires good instructions, time, patience and plenty of practice. To be a good swimmer, so many different skills must be learnt and then those skills need to be put together.

The best analogy I can use for learning to swim is like trying to find and put different jigsaw puzzles together and puzzle is not completed until all the right pieces are put together in a correct format. Children swim lessons start out by teaching them how to be water confident, then it progresses into learning the basics of kicking and flotation and then learning all four main strokes.

So to understand how long it would take to be a confident swimmer is better to explain different stages of learning to swim first

1) Stage 1: Getting Water-Confident

Regardless of age, learning to be water-confident is a must. Although not all children are scared of water, the biggest challenge at the beginners’ stage is getting fully water-confident and be at ease in water. This can be done much easier if swimming starts early in life through fun games and play.

The main objective of swimming lessons for under 3’s are to engage children with water early and to get them to get used to the feeling of being in water and travelling in it with adult-support. Little ones gain much water confidence through play in water.

In most swim schools in the U.K, children can start having lessons independently between the ages of 3 and 4 also known as pre-schoolers. At preschoolers swimming lessons, children have swimming lessons without parental support. A child who’s done plenty of swimming classes before age of 3 specially as toddlers, or has been regularly exposed to water through family swims, will not normally need to start from scratch.

But, if a pre-schooler is not water-confident and is not used to the feeling of moving in water, a teacher has to spend a considerable time just to get the child water-confident, before a child can learn the basics.

That is why, I highly recommend taking your little ones to swimming pools, either by participating in structured swimming lessons as soon as you can or just for family swims. Family swims work if at least one of the parents is very water-confident and knows how to handle a young child in water. Otherwise, parental fear of water could easily rub off on a child and could make the situation even worse.

2) Stage 2: Learning the Basic Swimming Skills

Between the ages of 3 and 4 years, learning can be more structured. Pre-school children are ready to learn the basics. So, learning the fundamentals of swimming can start without needing parents in the water for lessons.

The basic skills listed below are very important pieces of the learn-to-swim jigsaw puzzle and form essential foundations for good technique later on.

1. Ability to put their face and head in the water (child-led submersion and not forced by adults)
2. Ability to breathe out in the water; blowing bubbles
3. Floating on front and back with confidence and independently (without adult support or flotation devices)
4. Kicking legs on front and back with good technique
5. Gliding through the water on front and back with ease
6. Rolling in water from back to front and vice versa
7. Safely getting in (jumping in water) and climbing out of the pool unassisted
8. Streamlining: the ability to get body straight and legs together in the water as their body smoothly moves through the water

With consistent participation in early years swimming lessons, most children can be fully water-confidence before age 4.

For most children, if they started with formal lessons at least as a toddler (2 years), it is realistic to expect a 5 years old child to do all the basic skills of swimming.

3) Stage 3: Learning The Technique

After learning the basics, teaching 4 main swimming strokes like front crawl can start. Normally, by 5 years old, children are strong enough and have the body coordination to start learning the recognisable swimming strokes like front crawl and backstroke.

Learning swimming strokes needs psychological maturity to stay focused and listen to instructions for at least 30 minutes- around the age of 5 to 6 for most children.

For each of the 4 main swimming strokes, there is a specific format for kicking legs, moving arms and breathing. So, to swim with proper technique, children have to learn the leg and arm action for each stroke and coordinate leg kicks and arms with breathing.

Plus, keeping the whole body afloat as their arms, legs, and head move is another skill that needs to be learnt and mastered.

Parental Guidance

Start Swimming Lessons Early

Some children join us as babies or toddlers. It means they have started lessons between 4 months to 3 years old and have had termly swim lessons continuously. Our termly lessons  run during school term-time, children have lessons once a week and each lesson is 30 minutes. Children who start early specially as toddlers, by age 7 to 8 years old can swim confidently and competently which means:

• swim all four competitive strokes (front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly)
• swim 200 meters (8 laps of a 25-meter pool) continuously and with ease and do at least 50 meters of backstroke.
• Tread water confidently for at least 1 min
• Dive safely

How Many Swimming Lessons Needed

30 years of teaching swimming has shown me that it takes about 75 to 95 hours of structured weekly lessons over a period of approximately 4 to 5 years to become a fully competent swimmer.

Of course, the speed of learning varies a lot. Also, it depends if children doing group lessons or private lessons. But, 75 hours of swim lessons is the minimum requirement to be a competent swimmer.

Aim for 75 hours of Swim Lessons

Each year, the termly lessons will give your child about 18 hours of structured lessons. The majority of swim schools, provide 30 minutes lessons. Weekly lessons are offered over weeks of the school year. So, 4 years of lessons make it 75 hours. This is if your child doesn’t miss any lessons.

Learning to swim takes time. Try to invest in 4 years of swimming lessons. By 4 years, I mean, attending 3 terms of swim lessons per year (like schools) which is 34-36 weeks of swimming lessons in each school year, excluding half-terms.

With private lessons, you can speed up the process of learning to swim.

Learning to Swim Confidently Takes Time

Swim England defines a confident swimmer is a swimmer who can swim at least 100 meters continuously with comfort and ease using recognisable and different swimming strokes both on front and back. Also based on Swim England, a child must swim at least 100 meters with ease to be classed as water-safe.

Of course, the younger children start to learn to swim, the faster they will learn to swim. In the early years of swimming, the priority for a swim teacher is to help a learner to be truly comfortable in water regardless of age.

If a child starts learning to swim later in life, normally the water-confidence-building stage takes much longer. This tends to extend the whole learning to swim process. It’s important to have realistic expectations and allow children to have enough time in the water to practice skills and play.

Being able to swim confidently is about practice.

Playful practices are excellent for building water-confidence when kids are younger and structured practices are necessary to learn the technique.

Enquire About Swim Lessons at Blue Wave Swim School 

Children born in the 21 century are expected to live easily to their 80s, and water doesn’t know how old you are. So, investing in your children’s swimming lessons could be the most long-lasting gift that you could ever give them!

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Also, read our blog on ‘What is the Best Age to Start Swimming Lessons’.

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This blog was written in 2017 and modified and updated in 2024.