Aquatechniques School of Swimming

Aquatechniques school of swimming offers swimming lessons in the following categories:

Totswim (ages 6 – 36 months) is a parent-and-child group lesson approach which uses songs, rhymes and games coupled with appropriate toys and equipment to get babies comfortable in the water and giving them the opportunity to learn to swim as naturally as they would learn to walk.

Aquatechniques Learn-to-swim caters for ages 3 and older and is a technique based programme where children learn to swim in small groups with maximum 4 children per class. We prefer to start them before the age of 5 as this is the time we have found that they adapt to the aquatic environment and learn to swim more easily. We use a child friendly approach and aim to make swimming a pleasant experience at all times. Our results swim by themselves.

SPECIAL NEEDS: We integrate babies and children with special needs into our regular lessons wherever possible.

Our Totswim programme works very well for babies with low muscle tone, delayed development and syndromes such as Downs syndrome and Williams syndrome. We often get referrals from the Hospitals, Pediatric Neurologists and Therapists. The parents enjoy spending quality time with their babies and watching them enjoy the social interaction of the group while enjoying the freedom of movement they have in the water. Floating mats help them translate the aquatic skills which they have achieved into land skills. Contrary to popular belief babies with very low muscle tone and motivation for movement on land most often are VERY active in the water. Some of them are able to swim long before they can crawl or walk.

Children with mild physical or learning disabilities can also cope well in the conventional learn-to-swim programme and learn to swim just as the other children do.

Our Halliwick group is a group for older children who require the assistance of a parent or other adult in the water to support them during activities. Again we do not use armbands and songs and games are used to make the sessions fun and to cue the participants on which activities they will be doing. Parents and carers are trained to give minimal assistance and to encourage independent effort. The children learn to control their breathing and rotation in the water to the point where they achieve the maximum independence possible for them in the water. This could be total independence and may even lead to acquiring swimming ability.

Children who have severe physical and/or learning challenges which make it impractical or not possible to put them in a group, can take part in our swimming therapy programme where they work with the teacher on a one-to-one basis. The therapeutic qualities of being in warm water are combined with the Halliwick concept, Watsu and activities suggested by their physiotherapists to help them achieve a fuller range of movement, maintain or improve muscle strength and endurance and, wherever possible, achieve independence in the water and learn to swim in their own way.

Please note: We only work with children and do not offer swimming lessons or swimming therapy for adults.