The Macmurphys: Swimming

Monday, January 10, 2011

Swimming

Since it has been awhile since I posted swimming pictures I figured it was time for an update. These pictures were taking on 12/14. After the summer we continued with lessons in hopes that she will be a fluent swimmer come summer time. I have loved Emler and she has come a really long way. Her last class of this session is tomorrow (1/10) and we plan to continue on at least until the summer. Here are the things she can do as of now.

*swims 15 feet independently - they teach destination swimming so they have to tell the instructor where they are swimming too before they go. They teach this because a lot of problems occur when a child jumps in and doesn't know where they are going. They end up in the middle of the pool and freak out. This is such a great thing for them to learn.

*She also jumps in and they have them turn and go to the wall. This is another form of destination swimming. When they get to the wall they have to grab on and get out on their own. She does great with that.

*She is able to hold her breath for a good 15+ seconds and is actually starting to lift her head up to get a breath. They are working really hard on teaching them how to do a roll over breath. They said once the kids master this they will most likely take off. She is so close to getting it. She can get herself turned half way on her back and then needs a little extra help to get flat. Flipping back onto her stomach is easy for her. Once they flip back over they swim independently to the podium.

*This one surprises me. For some reason I thought this would be a huge battle. She can float. Floating for a child with little to no body fat is actually a difficult thing to do because the body fat is what keeps you afloat. It shocked me to see she didn't freak out when the water would start to come over her face. She stayed so calm.

*She is finally going down the big yellow slide and loves it. The first time she asked to do it I was skeptical. She went up the stairs and came down with the look of death but has asked to go down it ever since. Once they land in the water the instructor has them swim to the edge and get out on their own. She has come so far!!!

All of this is in preparation for her to do well over the summer. I wasn't able to relax this past summer so knowing she can do some of this takes a little bit of the stress off of me. Keep it up baby girl.