Why Learn to Swim Early?
By Karen Burns
Swimming is one of the most important skills that a child can learn. With the number of swimming
pools in the Dubai environment and the close proximity to the sea it is a vital safety skill for every
child. It also opens up the possibility in years to come of a many other water based activities such as
sailing, canoeing, paddle-boarding etc.
However, there is increasing evidence that swimming is not only a fun activity which is essential
for safety but that learning to swim has benefits for a child’s physical, cognitive and linguistic
development. A study in 2012, which surveyed 7,000 parents in the USA, New Zealand and
Australia, conducted by Griffith University, Australia, drew some interesting conclusions. The study’s
aim was to determine whether taking part in early swimming lessons had any impact on subsequent
milestones in children’s development. The results did show a clear connection; children who took
part in early swimming lessons developed a wide range of physical skills and were able to meet a
number of important milestones earlier than their peers who had not taken swimming lessons.
Other skills which also seemed to benefit:
• Emergent mathematical skills
• Visual motor skills such as cutting with scissors, drawing lines and shapes
• Oral expression
• Emergent literacy
Why would learning to swim make such a difference? The theory postulated by the researchers is
that it was not so much the actions involved in swimming but the method and structure of the
lessons that was beneficial. Basically, the children were practising how to learn in an instructional
environment. They were learning to watch and listen, they needed to interpret language, they were
counting and this was closely linked to physical actions.
The researchers concluded that learning to swim had a positive effect on the transition to school as
children were more ‘ready to learn’. They did note that the quality of the swimming lessons was very
important.