Swimming free-style

Swimming Cancelled

Not enough kids enrolled in the 2nd round of level four swimming classes this week, so it's been cancelled. The manager of the pool suggested we get maddy into private lessons, which will only cost us an extra $40 on top of the current enrollment fee we paid for the public lessons. After talking it over with the swim coach, he thinks it will only take a few more lessons before Maddy really knows how to swim free-style properly. He learns the swimming stroke techniques very well, and now it's just a matter of coordinating that with his breathing.

He's come a long way since we started and hopefully, if he's up to it, he might want to swim competitively. We will have to wait and see what his cardiologist says first before we enter him in any competitive races.

Private lessons start tommorrow and ends next Tuesday. He'll know how to swim properly by the end of it :)

Bumped up to level 4

After 10 minutes in the pool during his first day of swimming lessons, Maddy was told by his instructor to move on over to the next class, Level 4. He actually completed Level 3 last summer but because he had not been in the pool since then, we thought it would be best for him to repeat the level again. Boy were we wrong !!! He was way ahead of the others in that class and I was impressed that he remembered most, if not all , of what he learnt last year.

His new instructor worked them hard and had them swim lengths of the pool with only a few breaks in between. When she approached me afterwards, she told me that Maddy has a good butterfly kick and is looking forward to working with him in this class :)

Another Lesson Over

Maddy passed his Level 3 Stroke Development swimming lessons last night - YAY!!!!!! We weren't going to let him take the last lesson because of his cold/flu, but since the pool wasn't too cold, and he had his full body swimsuit on, we thought he would be ok ... and he was!!

They were tested on various swimming strokes, glides and kicks as well as water safety rules. Susan, his instructor said that she was not able to push him as much as she would have liked and that he will find level 4 more challenging.

Anyway, Maddy is taking a break from swimming, and will be playing Basketball during the Winter. He will have one training a week and one game in the weekend with two of his friends from school.

(I just hope I can refrain myself from yelling when I'm on the sideline, watching him get pushed (unintentionally) on the court LOL)

"Silky Smooth Stroke"

... was the comment we recieved from Maddy's swimming coach tonight. She told Matt that he has a 'silky smooth stroke' and swims further than any of the kids in his class.

WOW ... we were impressed by her comments and pleased to hear that he is doing very well. Of course, when we told him, he rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders and said "it was easy." LOL

Level 3 Swim Lessons

Maddy started level 3 swimming lessons and got off to a good start. There are only four (2 girls & 2 boys) in the class which is a good size, as his swim coach will be able to give him more personal attention. Susan seems very organized and had emailed a day earlier introducing herself then called that night to find out more about where Maddy was in terms of his lessons and what he's learnt so far. He really enjoyed his first class and made a new friend named Jason.

Little Fishy Completes His Class

Our little fishy did really well for his last day of level 2 swimming lessons. He passed his class and is able to move onto level 3. I was hoping to continue his lessons throughout the fall (once a week) but our little fishy wants a break because he's bored. He wants to to try something new like Tae Kwon Do so we shall see! Great job Son!

First Day - Level 2 Swimming Class

Maddy was up early, eager to get to his swimming lessons which started at 9.20am. I was a little slow going because I sat up reading most of the night. Matt dropped us off a bit early so we waited by the pool, watching the Peewee swimmers having fun in the water.

He was a little nervous because he didn't know any of the kids that were going to be in his class but when he heard that he was going to have the same teacher he had last time, that put him at ease.

There were 8 children, including two girls, and he was out to impress them all. From what I could see from where I was sitting, he remembered everything he learnt from his last class and didn't hesitate showing off his skills. Instead of practicing, he would race with the boys and try to get to the halfway mark before them and back again. He didn't like coming second or third, so he would try his best to win the next race - very competitive like his parents !!!

He also made another new friend named Jackson, who he played with after their swimming lesson was over.

Doing Handstands

Splashdown Waterpark

The weather today hit 95 degrees so we decided to go to Splashdown Waterpark in Manasses for the afternoon. It was packed when we arrived, but that wasn't a problem as we found parking and a spot to put our stuff while we had fun in the water.

We started out at the kiddies area and the small slides, then headed over to the bigger ones. Daddy was too chicken to go with Maddy on the bigger slides, so Mum had to tag along to make sure he was ok.

Maddy did well with the first one (picture above) but Mum got stuck half way down because (duh) she hadn't realised that you had to lie down to go fast and not sit up like a normal slide lol.



The next water activity was on the the two four story waterslides. They were scary (well for me). We rode down the slides on tire tubes and boy what a rush that was. I think we did it 3 or 4 times before I had enough and needed a rest.

That didn't stop Maddy though, as he joined his Daddy in the swimming pools and practiced his swimming and played with the turtle and nemo figurines. We never got around to the 770 foot Lazy River because it was full but hopefully next time we will.

Yay Another Swimming Class

I managed to get Madison into the Level II - Fund Aquatic Skills Swimming Class which starts 4th August and ends 14th August. I thought that they were closing the pool which they are but not until 15th August. Yippee! He is so excited that he is able to continue his lessons.

Passed with flying colors

Maddy passed his first swimming lesson and has been recommended to join the regular levels for age 6 and up. Instead of starting at the Advanced level one, his instructor said he is ready for level two. Because the pool is closed for a month for cleaning, I will have to wait till the fall to enrol him in his next set of classes.

He has done well so far and as you can see from the video posted below, he almost swam one length of the pool. He is still learning to coordinate his arms with his breathing, but in his next class he will be taught more in-depth lessons on how to do it properly.

Learning basic safety techniques in the deep end (12 ft)

Practicing his backstroke

Maddy and Dillon

Final Pee Wee II Lesson

Pee Wee Easy

Maddy started his Pee Wee II swimming lessons this week and is finding the class way too easy. I couldn't believe it - he remembered everything his Papa and Daddy taught him when we were in Rarotonga and started showing off to everyone as soon as he entered the pool. There were suppose to be four pee wee swimmers but one never turned up and the other was not quite ready for their class and joined the first one instead.

From what we observed over the past few days, Maddy is a natural and learns very quickly. Apparently he and Dylan are being taught more advanced swimming techniques and not the usual lessons that are taught in that class. According to his instructor, it looks like Maddy might have to skip the Pee Wee III class and move onto the more advanced swimming classes instead. Way to go son!!