Swim Class

I like to tell the story that I could swim before I could walk and I competed in my first swim race at age 3 (ok, maybe 4).  So to me, it was a given that Oskar would learn to swim early in his life.  And even better, Martin was on the same page.  Before Oskar was even born, Martin had researched swim classes for babies in San Francisco and we had found our match – La Petit Baleen in the Presidio.  It took a few tries online to find a class with availability that worked with our schedule, but we finally were able to sign up for a class on Saturdays! 

To be expected, Oskar was a champ.  There are three other kids in the class and Oskar is by far the youngest.  While he still doesn’t laugh or smile during the 30 minutes in the pool, he doesn’t cry either which I would deem a success (especially after talking with the other parents whose own kids didn’t fare so well the first few times). 

The class involves singing songs and splashing water, floating on his back through a tunnel (I couldn’t help but think of a ride at Disneyland), floating in “tug boats” made up of swim noodles, “jumping” off the side of the pool into the water and sliding down a mat into the water on a “raft”.

Below are a few photos from his first class as well as the following weeks, when I was able to swim with him.