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Ready to Swim
Toddlers Can Take to the Water for Health and Fitness
By April E. Clark
As young boys who were practically raised on the Ruedi Reservoir near Aspen, Colo., Tony Taylor and his twin brother, Marcus, learned to swim the old-fashioned way. "Like a lot of kids who grow up around water, we were thrown in and we learned to swim from that point on," says Taylor, a father of two boys, ages 4 and 8. "For kids who live around water, it's kind of a right of passage."
More than 30 years later, Taylor has taken a different approach to teaching his sons, Sky and Jet, how to swim: lessons. "The earliest I could get them into the water and professional lessons, the better," he says. "I know kids who were delivered by water birth and they are like little fishes, so I wanted to get my sons acquainted to the water as early as possible. For them, even the bathtub was a good transition for swimming."
Taylor, an avid kayaker, enlisted the assistance of a local swim coach to provide private lessons for Sky and Jet. With the experience of raising two toddlers in and around water, he advises that parents follow a few simple rules before reserving lessons for their kids. "Don't start too quickly and don't push them," he says. "If they aren't ready to swim, you shouldn't rush the subject."
He also suggests promoting both enjoyment and responsibility when introducing the concept of swimming into a toddler's life. "Make it fun for the kids, but also let them know the responsibility and risk involved."
