Tweet21-05-2010 om 13:07 by Sueli Brodin

There was a large swimming pool at the kibbutz in Israel where my Dutch husband and I spent some time as volunteers in the early 1990s and every day after work many of us would go and sit by the pool, read a book or dive into the fresh groundwater.



Within the group of international volunteers, the Dutch could swim the best. They were like fish in water and all of them had a swimming diploma.



The reason, they said, was that the Netherlands was a water country, close to the sea and with rivers, canals, brooks and ponds just about everywhere.  They explained that the risks of drowning were very real and that most Dutch children learned to swim at an early age.



When my children started going to school, I noticed that swimming lessons were a recurrent topic of conversation among parents: "Is your child already taking swimming classes?", "Which swimming school do you go to?", "How much does it cost?", "How long does it take?"



Both my son Tim, 10 and my daughter Naomi, 8 now have their swimming diploma and now it's my youngest daughter Sacha's turn to take swimming lessons. She started last month at the Polfermolen swimming pool in Valkenburg and we were able to take a peek at the lesson during the open day for families earlier this month.



My husband told me that when he was a child, the swimming instructor used to stay outside of the water and walk along the pool with a long hook (!), which he would use once in a while to correct a wrong technique. Nowadays, instructors go into the water with the children and lessons are much more friendly and personal.



In the early stages, children are taught to feel comfortable and safe in the vicinity of water by playing games and discovering all the things they can do with water.



Sacha takes one lesson per week and each lesson lasts for 50 minutes.



In each stage she is expected to learn a number of strokes and techniques and her progress will be carefully monitored by a supervisor.



It is only when she meets all the requirements that she will receive a small piece of paper telling her that she is ready to move on the next stage. Basing ourselves on our experience with Tim and Naomi, it seems reasonable to assume that it will take her a little more than a year to go through the five required stages and finally obtain her swimming diploma.



In the meantime, the weather is getting warmer and we will soon be able to bike to the outdoor swimming pool in Geulle.



It is a membership based swimming pool located only 10 minutes by bicycle from our house which strongly reminds my husband and I of the swimming pool at the kibbutz.



And while our children will safely swim and play in the water with their school friends...



... we will read and relax, just like in the good old days.

P.S. The swimming pool in Geulle welcomes new members. Visit the website for more information (in Dutch).

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