By Raymond Poon

THE thought of taking the plunge strikes fear into some young children and sends them running into their parents’ arm.
 

“Most young children like water,” says swimming instructor Richard Lee. “But some are very fearful. Maybe their parents gave them negative thoughts about water, like how water is dangerous.”
 

Fear of water was definitely not on Mr Lee’s mind when he was a kid. “I’ve liked water since I was young. From the age of five, I taught myself to swim,” says the 47-year-old. And as a teen, Mr Lee swam for his secondary school. He picked up scuba-diving in his 20s.
 

But it was only in his late 30s that the water-lover made water the focus of his career – first as a powerboat driver and then as a lifeguard. He started to teach swimming in 2000. In the beginning, he taught only during weekends while working as a lifeguard on weekdays. Gradually, by word of mouth, giving out flyers and running advertisement, he grew his client base.
 

Swimming is now his full time job.
 

First steps
Mr Lee is currently a swimming instructor with a Level 1 certification from Singapore Sports Council. He hopes to eventually take the advanced certifications that will give him the license to teach competitive swimming.
Up till 2006, his oldest student was a 60-year-old and the youngest was five.
Then in January last year, at the request of a childcare centre, Mr Lee took his first steps in the water with kids below five.
 

It was a success, so he now runs a class for two-to-five-year-olds at Tampines Swimming Complex. “At this age, they’re too young to do the swimming strokes,” he says. Even though simple kicking movements are taught as the children make progress, the focus is not for them to learn to swim. Instead, it is to help them have fun and be comfortable in the water, explains Mr Lee. This will make it easier for them to learn swimming when they grow older. Such classes are kept small – about four to six students – since more personal attention is required for young children. Also, with short attention spans, a lesson is just 30 minutes long.
 

The first lesson is usually spent working on children’s attitudes towards water.
Mr Lee will get them to sit at the edge of the pool. If they react comfortably, he will scoop up some water in his hand and sprinkle it over each child’s head. As water streams down a child’s face, the child is asked to blow air from his mouth. This is to impress on the child that when swimming, he should always breathe through the mouth and not the nose. If the child finds this difficult, Mr Lee will tell him to “do it the way you blow out the candles on a birthday cake”.

Fear not
When the kids finally get into the pool, Mr Lee takes out his teaching aids – things like colour rings, ping-ping balls and rubber duckies. But to the kids, they are just toys, which is just as well, as it helps him capture their attention. For example, he may get them to blow ping-ping balls across the surface of the water. This helps them overcome their fear of putting their mouths close to the water.
 

For kids who are afraid to get into the pool, he will hold their hands to help them feel safe and confident. “Touch is important. You have to lead them,” he says. Mr Lee enjoys teaching as he can make sure his students learn the right things from the start, so there is no waste of effort. He says: “My swimming was self-taught and I learnt all the wrong things, like holding my breath when swimming.”
 

“I get a sense of self-satisfaction when the children learn to do what they normally can’t.”

Back
 

Swimming Lessons (Home) | Private Swimming Lesson | Group Swimming Lesson | Testimonial | Feedback | Contact Us