William's Swim Test

Caroline has struggled trying to get William into swim lessons on the Yokosuka base. He had been plodding along in 2nd level, where they really start to swim, before summer. We spent July in Bremerton, and when we returned, she couldn't seem to get him into the classes on base. So, she signed him up for lessons in Ikego, which is a military housing base that is 40 minutes and $7.00 in tolls away. It was more than worth while. The instructors are really good, and the classes are small. In Yokosuka, the class size is 6 to 8 students, so each kid doesn't get a whole lot of attention. In Ikego, William had two other students in his class, and neither of them showed up for most of the classes, so he essentially got private lessons!

It was just what he needed to evolve from "thrashing in a forward manner" to "swimming." Our goal was to empower him to not drown while playing in or near water. HIS goal was to pass the swim test that would qualify him to play on the slides and swim alone in the deep end. He needed to swim two laps of the pool without touching the sides or stopping and then tread water for 30 seconds. Today was his first class in level 3 after graduating from level 2 and he successfully passed the dreaded swimming test! Yes!