I wish we had swimming classes in school when I was growing up. Swimming is an essential skill for all people. I am from the jungle, not a coastal fish, so swimming was not a natural activity in our daily routine.

We’d be lucky if we went to the beach twice a year. Beaching was only reserved for special occasions and when your bratty cousins from New Zealand came to visit and took over your bed for more than two weeks.

I know, I know that there are many obstacles to swimming in the Samoa curriculum. The cost of building, operating and maintaining a pool, hiring swimming coaches and so forth is not a small expense. Still, I wish it was something that was available given the seasons and the number of Samoans who drown yearly. Swimming lessons, help our children learn this very important life saving skill.

In addition, it is a great way to stay active and encourage healthy living from an early age. Knowing how to swim will reduce the risk of drowning and improve water safety skills. The confidence building aspect of swimming and being involved in a communal hobby is also very important. When we teach a child to swim, we are preparing them for the big open world, which can be fun but also very dangerous.

Newfolks have tips on how to teach kids. Typically the recommended age for swimming lessons is four, but there is really no right or wrong age to learn.

1. Make the water fun. The sand was fun for me growing up. The water was a different monster to me. Watching JAWS with your mother didn’t help either because every time you go to the beach, you just picture the great white waiting for your leg or arm. Can you imagine the phobia of one five year old and the near drownings I went through as a kid because there were no adults to teach us properly?

It wasn’t until flight school at eighteen or nineteen that I took proper swimming lessons in New Zealand. Every time I flew a plane and followed the rivers, I told myself if the plane ever dropped and I died, it wasn’t because of the plane crash. It would be me not learning how to swim properly. After one flight exam over the water, I booked myself into the Aquatic centre with a swimming coach.

I was shocked to meet a few islanders from Fiji and Samoa there, adults in their 40s who had real fear of the water. Traumatic experiences as children almost drowning in shallow waters prevented them from swimming. One friend could not even lie back in the water with his eyes clothes. He had real fear and had tears in his eyes whenever the Coach asked him to trust the water and trust her.

Anyway, making the water fun includes starting off slow. Small steps. Fill up the pool with toys, floaties and awesome safe people. Once your child realised how fun the water can be, you can start learning.

Patience goes a long way for both student and teacher.

2. Show them what it’s like without a float. The floats will need to come off at some point. Just like learning how to ride a bike. You will have training wheels on for a few days of few weeks depending on how fast you learn. Once their confidence grows, then it’s time for the floaties to come off. That’s when the fun really begins. Once you take away the floats, it is important to hold on to them and teach them proper strokes.

You’ll have a strong little swimmer in no time.

3. Teach them how to hold their breath: Swimming requires some level of holding your breath. Newfolks recommend holding your breath above water first and then let them try it out for a few seconds at a time.

4. Give them some goggles and show them some strokes. This was one of the main things on my shopping list when I was in Auckland earlier this month. Goggles and swimming stuff. Children will feel more in control when they can clearly see under water. This is the same for adults. Goggles prevent any stinging or irritation to the eyes and will be a fun way for them to discover a whole new world under water.

We might have the next famous marine biologist and scuba diver on our hands. I hope to be near the beaches a bit more regularly this year.

Don’t wait for the next COVID lockdown to hit. Have an awesome week and remember, it’s midweek, just keep swimming!