Do Kids Forget How to Swim?

School is back! August is just around the corner and it’s time for all my swim friends to get ready to head back into the classroom. It's also the time when many families take a break from swim lessons. The pools are closing, the weather is cooling (well, as much as it “cools” in Houston), and another fun summer becomes a happy memory.

But wait! There’s a reason we have indoor pools! After teaching children to swim for more than 60 years, we know that swimming is a use-it-or-lose-it skill, especially for our younger kiddos. Just like playing a sport or learning an instrument, regular practice is one of the biggest keys to long-term retention. Swimming isn’t just one skill, it’s a combination of breath control, body position, kicking, floating, and safety awareness. When kids take long breaks (like for the school year) we see many of them come back with less confidence, comfort, endurance, and weaker in the skills they worked so hard over the summer to build.

For young children especially, those skills are still developing. Your child may learn how to float, roll over, and swim short distances when they’re fresh out of their swim lessons, but those skills need repeated practice to become automatic.

Can kids forget how to swim?

Taking a break for several months means their little muscles may not remember the movements as easily. This is called muscle memory, and it develops through repetition. They may even feel less comfortable in the water because they’ve been out of practice for so long.

Children who practice swimming consistently are more likely to retain their swimming skills and confidence than those who take long breaks. That’s why year-round swim lessons make such a big difference, and why we set up our whole pool around it!

At Houston Swim Club we have indoor swim lessons in heated pools and our lessons are year-round, so your child can keep learning and keep up their skills. Even just one swim lesson each week helps children maintain their swimming skills and confidence, so when next summer DOES come around, they won’t need to relearn everything just to get back to where they were.

So while you’re getting ready for school, squeeze in some swim lessons, too. You’ll be glad you did!

One more important thing!

Swimming isn't just about floating, form, and strokes. It's about building lifelong water safety habits. Don’t forget to review all the water safety rules and tips with your child during the school year. Water doesn't disappear when summer ends and can still pose a danger even during the off season, especially when water areas may be closed and unsupervised. One of the best ways to keep children safer around water is to teach them how to recognize hazards before an emergency happens.

We have lots of water safety resources, articles, videos, and games to explore here on our website. Kids can also play free online games and keep their water safety knowledge fresh at kidswatersafety.org. We’ll continue adding content there and here so there will always be something new to make water safety FUN!

Here’s to a great school year!

Written by Howey the Dolphin, Water Safety Expert, Houston Swim Club