I grew up in a swimming family. Every Friday night was swimming club night and off we would go to compete and have fun. I have such fond memories of swimming club and it was one of the only sports activities our family did where we were all there at the same time in the same space for the night. I had one older brother and sister and I was the baby. All 3 of us kids were swimmers so it was great for everyone.
Since I can remember mum and dad had us in swimming lessons. There is not a time in my memory that I can remember not being able to swim. I am so grateful for this as swimming gave me so much confidence as a child. When I went to school I was one of the stronger swimmers in my grade and often won awards and medals during school swimming carnivals. As a kid it was good being good at something and it gave me that little bit of extra confidence.
We spent a lot of time outdoors and camping at the beach so being a strong swimmer also made holidays that little bit easier as mum and dad knew our abilities. Later in my high schooling I got to compete at the State level for swimming which was a great opportunity. I was able to skip days of school woohoo and go with a small team of other students from my school to interschool competitions and I think that was a really good learning and growing experience for me. I learnt about competition and doing my best and the value of working hard and being good at something. My older brother also made it to the nationals in his final years of schooling.
Since having my own kids I have had a strong desire for them to be good swimmers. We started them in swimming early on and it is great that at 6 and 4 they can both swim independently without needing us to hold them up. We obviously would not leave them unattended in the pool at those ages however knowing they have those skills is awesome!!
Miss 6 has been able to swim on her own quite well for over a year now however hubby and I have decided to keep her in swimming lessons as one she LOVES it and two being a strong swimmer is a skill in life that will always be a benefit. I think it is good for kids to be good at something and feel proud of themselves for that. At this point hubby and I are happy for that to be swimming as long as our kids are enjoying themselves and so far they are.
We are lucky to have partnered with Paul Sadler Swimland for a competition to celebrate their 10 millionth swim in May. This is exclusively for our School Mum community. One lucky Victoian OR (QLD) Townsville family will win One Term worth of Swimming Lessons for their child PLUS a Paul Sadler Swimpack!! WOOHOO!! You can see where they are located here!!
All you need to do is enter below by liking both the School Mum and Paul Sadler Swimland facebook page to be in the running to win!!!
*Note this competition is only open to VIC and QLD (Townsville residents) as this is where Paul Sadler Swimland is located.
