Where are other 4 year olds with swimming ability?

mom21kid2dogs wrote: I'm interested to hear where other kids 4 year olds are in terms of swimming ability. Olivia has always loved the water but in the past month her skills have just exploded! She can do a fairly decent crawl stroke and breast stroke and can go across the short (width end) end of the pool. She can swim under water half that length. She can back float for a minute or two without any assistance. She goes to the bottom of the 3ft to retrieve quarters. I thought she was pretty good (she's never had formal lessons~I just work with her some when she shows the interest) but we had friends over last weekend whose kids are on a pretty competative swim club and they were talking about a couple of 5 yr olds that are swimming 100 m IM's. She's no where near something like that.

I used to teach lessons more than half my life ago and it seems as though she is younger and doing more than most those kids but it was a LONG. LONG time ago!
What do your little fish do in the water?

MomToMany replied: My 5 year old can barely swim. He just got used to being in the water without having someone holding him (with his life jacket on). Your daughter is doing great!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Maddie puts her head under the water. She is just a little on the reserved side. She isn't much for taking chances and she isn't very sporty, kwim? Now, Ethan on the other hand will be MUCH different.

Olivia is doing a great job! Tell her to keep up the good work.

momof3angels replied: Well, my Dominic just turned 6, but he has been swimming at various levels since he turned 2 (littlerally days after his birthday lol). At 2 he could doggy paddle laps in the pool. He didn't like putting his head under water until 4 though, and at that time he started crawl. Last year, when he turned 5, we started actual swimming classes. He was already a good enough swimmer to skip the first level, and the second level was easy to him. Last year he progressed really fast and had to stay in the last pre-school class 3 times, but only because he wasn't old enough to go into the 6-12 year old group, and his instructors just used him as an example for the other kids lol. Now that he is 6, we finally were allowed to advance him, but we skipped the first four classes of that age group lol. He is in an advanced swim class and he can now do a really great crawl, backstroke, a decent breaststroke and even a little butterfly! I am proud of him, can't you tell lol. He is an awesome swimmer, but then we live in CA and we are always in the water. SOunds like Olivia is an awesome swimmer too.

atlantamomof2 replied: Maggie will be 5 in April and she jumps off the diving board at my grandparent's pool and their big slide, as well as swims across the length of the pool but this is all with water wings on. She asked at the end of this past summer if we could take them off but there was literally only about 2 weeks left of swimable weather so I said no, next year. It sounds like your daughter is ahead of the game!

mommy2owen replied: It's funny to hear someone talk about this. I actually started dating Ben when he brought Alyssa in for swimming lessons at 3months old,(she dosent think of me as her step-mom, I'm mommy to her) they have been with me ever since! Alyssa has been in the water since 3 1/2 months old, and LOVES it!

loveydad replied: Kel's not a fan of the water. He likes to go out with his floaties on because they're spiderman. Other than that he mostly sits in the shallow end. Vincent loves kick boards and those noodle things and will (wearing a lifevest or floaties) go as far as I'll let him. Both CAN swim they're just not really wanting to.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: WOW that's amazing! I think if I had enrolled my oldest DD in swimming lessons at age 4 she would have done really well. But I waited until she was 6 and she loved it. She is now 9 and in level 3 going into level 4. I plan to keep this up with all 3 of them!

mom21kid2dogs replied: Thanks for the input, guys! It was interesting to see where everybody else was on this!

Jeanine, I appreciate knowing how the lesson thing works. Our community is small~no indoor swim facilities (we swim at a local hotel in the winter) and no lessons for children under 5. Although I'm going to beg to get her in this summer (she won't be 5 til October) I was worried that even if she can get in this summer she'd be too bored. Nice to hear they will let them skip ahead.

Atlantamomof2~My daughter LOVES the slides, too. I'm was too chicken to let her go off diving boards this past summer (we've never used floaties with her and she only wears her lifejacket in the boat) but where we swim in the summer they have one of those big corkscrewtype slides and she has been on that since 2 (almost 3). The first summer she rode with me but last summer went on all summer by herself. I just stood in the wading pool to catch her in the end! She is such a daredevil. I wish she had a little more fear, sometimes!

atlantamomof2 replied:
I know! Maggie has already ridden a few roller coasters with her Daddy and she's begging me to let her rock climb at the Zoo!

I remember being like this as a kid, though. But, now I'm such a chicken! You should see me if I see a roach ...it's sad, really.

MommyToAshley replied: Wow...sounds like he is doing great!

mom21kid2dogs replied: Valerie~
We must be parenting the same kid!! . When we take Olivia to fairs and carnivals she always runs to the "big kid rides" and says I wanna ride this. She has a fit 'cause she's not big enough. She even says that the kiddie coasters are for babies! . I have to admit, though, she gets it honest. To this day I adore roller coasters. I thought I died and went to heaven the 3 summers I worked at Cedar Point and got to test ride roller coasters (I was a lifeguard and the beach wasn't opened early back then) for 8 hours a day. Maybe they'll give Evil Kenevil a run for his $$ someday!!