Swimming lessons for children: when to start and what your child learns

Simskola (swimming lessons) where a child learns actual strokes works from around four to five years of age. Before that it is about water confidence: daring to put their face in the water, floating and jumping in, and that can start in the bath or at babysim (baby swimming classes). Able to swim, as defined by Svenska Livräddningssällskapet (the Swedish Life Saving Society), means being able to fall in, get back up and swim 200 metres, 50 of them on your back, and every child is expected to manage that by year six of school. Sweden is a country with water everywhere, and being able to swim is as much a safety matter as a skill.

A Saturday in October at a simhall (public swimming pool) in Stockholm. It echoes, it smells of chlorine, and on the edge sit four four-year-olds with their arms crossed while the instructor tries to get them to blow bubbles. Two of them have swum with armbands since they were one, one has never had their head under water, and one is crying. In ten weeks, three of them will be able to float on their backs. Here is what swimming lessons do, when to start and what to do at home in between.

Step by step: from the bathtub to 200 metres

Age	Stage	What the child learns
3 months to 2 years	Baby swimming, water confidence	Being in water with a parent, brief dips under, enjoying it
2 to 4 years	Play in the kids' pool, water confidence	Face in the water, blowing bubbles, jumping in from the edge, floating with support
4 to 6 years	Beginner swimming lessons	Floating on front and back without support, gliding, leg kicks, the first strokes
6 to 8 years	Intermediate swimming lessons	Breaststroke and backstroke over 25 metres, diving for objects, treading water
8 to 12 years	Technique, swimming club, school swimming	200 metres, front crawl, life saving and safety, full swimming competence

What baby swimming gives you, and what it does not

Baby swimming from around three months is time in warm water with you, where the baby learns that water on the face is fine and to hold their breath when they go under. It is lovely and it builds water confidence. It does not make a child able to swim, and it does not give you a child who can save itself. A child who has done baby swimming needs exactly as much supervision on a jetty as one who has not, and sometimes more, because they are not afraid.

Swimming lessons: what happens

A swimming course in Stockholm is usually once a week for a term, thirty minutes in the water, in groups of five to ten children with one instructor. The first lessons are almost entirely about confidence: jumping from the edge to the instructor, dipping the head, blowing bubbles. Then floating, first with a kickboard and then without. After that, leg kicks with the board, arm strokes standing up, and finally the two together. A child who is ready and does one term often comes out able to float on their back and swim a few metres. Two terms usually gets them to 25 metres.

What decides how it goes is the instructor and the size of the group, more than the pool. Ask how many children there are per instructor, and whether the same instructor teaches the whole term. Children who are scared need the same person every time.

How to find a place in Stockholm

• Municipal pools in the City of Stockholm and the surrounding municipalities run swimming lessons with sign-up by term. Places go fast, and registration often opens a term in advance. Check current times and registration on the pool's website.
• Swimming clubs run lessons as the foundation of what they do, often with good instructors and longer waiting lists.
• Private swim schools exist in several districts, with smaller groups and higher prices.
• Summer swim school at bathing spots and outdoor pools, an intensive two weeks. Works well for children who already have water confidence.
• School includes swimming in PE, but usually too little for a child to learn from scratch. Do not count on school alone.

Which pools suit children of different ages, with kids' pools, warm water and times that work, we have gathered in Swimming pools for children in Stockholm.

How to support at home

1. The bath: a cup of water over the head from babyhood, never as a punishment, always with a smile.
2. A play swim once a week on top of the lessons, with no demands. The child practises what the instructors showed them when nobody is watching.
3. No armbands at the pool once the child is having lessons; that is where they should be without them. A life jacket on the jetty is another matter.
4. Do not redo the lesson. The instructor's words and sequence, not yours. Ask the instructor what you can practise if you want to.
5. Praise what happened, not how far it was: you kept your head under the whole way.

Water safety: what applies whether or not your child can swim

• Small children near water: an adult within arm's reach, the whole time, without a phone. Children drown silently and in under a minute.
• A life jacket on children on jetties, in boats and at beaches with currents, until they can genuinely swim, not just in a pool.
• Teach your child never to jump into unknown water and always to swim with someone.
• A ten-year-old who can swim in a pool is not the same as a ten-year-old in cold water in the archipelago. Cold drains their strength in minutes.
• Take a course in Paediatric CPR. That is the knowledge that saves lives in a drowning accident, while you wait for the ambulance.

How we do it with our families

Several of our nannies drive or walk the children to swimming lessons, because the lesson is at four o'clock on a weekday when no parent can make it. Nike has a six-year-old in Nacka whom she takes to the pool every Wednesday: she packs the bag from a list on the fridge, sits in the stands for the whole lesson, and helps with the shower and hair afterwards. On her note she writes what the instructor said at the end and whether the girl put her head under or not. The parents come to the lesson when they can, but it is the same nanny who is there every week, and the girl knows it.

This text is general information and does not replace advice from BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in), your vårdcentral (local health centre) or 1177 (the national healthcare helpline). If you are worried about your child, call 1177. In an emergency, call 112.

Read more: Swimming pools for children in Stockholm · Beaches for kids in Stockholm · After-school activities for children in Stockholm · Paediatric CPR

Frequently asked questions

When should children start swimming lessons?

Water confidence can start with baby swimming from around three months, but proper lessons where the child learns strokes work from four to five years. Before that, most children lack the coordination and the concentration. Children who start at five often learn just as fast as those who started at three.

What counts as being able to swim?

According to Svenska Livräddningssällskapet, the Swedish Life Saving Society: being able to fall into the water, go under, get back to the surface and swim 200 metres, 50 of them on your back. It is also the requirement in the school curriculum for year six. A child who swims ten metres in a pool is not yet able to swim, but well on the way.

How do we find swimming lessons in Stockholm?

The pools in the city and the surrounding municipalities run their own lessons, and there are swimming clubs and private swim schools. Places at the municipal pools go quickly, so sign up as soon as registration opens, often a term in advance. Check current times and registration on each pool's website.

My child is afraid of water, what do we do?

Start in the bath: water over the head from a cup, then the face under for a second. Go to a shallow kids' pool without asking for anything, just play. Lessons with a calm instructor and few children in the group usually solve it, but never force a child under the surface. The fear usually lasts longer than the strokes take to learn.

Are armbands necessary?

Armbands and flotation vests are good for confidence, but they do not teach a child to swim, and they can give a false sense of security to both children and parents. On jetties, in boats and at beaches, small children should wear a life jacket. In lessons the aids are removed step by step, and that is when the swimming begins.