by Ali Wright

Hi there!

We are from the team at Carlile Swimming Cross Street, Ryde! You may be familiar with our swim school but we thought we could introduce ourselves and chat about the benefits of learning to swim. Carlile Swimming provides swimming programs for all ages, from babies to Olympians. We have been pioneering new teaching and training methods for more than half a century and are recognised worldwide as a leader in all aspects of aquatic education.

Where have we come from?

Our Cross Street swim school was actually built in the backyard of Forbes and Ursula Carlile’s home way back in 1962. It was the first ever purpose built indoor teaching pool in NSW, and today we are teaching the great grandchildren of our original customers.

Swimming is part of the Australian culture. The ability to swim well is not only potentially life-saving but it is also an important life skill that will provide lasting benefits and enjoyment to all Australians.

Learning to swim from a young age has many benefits. A study by Professor Robyn Jorgensen from Griffith University found that young children who participate in early-years swimming achieve a wide range of skills earlier than those who don’t. Specifically, the study showed that swimming children:

• were often months or years ahead in physical capability than their same aged peers.
• scored significantly better than non-swimming children on gross motor stationary skills (such as standing on tiptoes or on one foot) as well as visual motor skills (such as cutting paper and colouring in).
• scored significantly better on oral expression as well as achieving in general areas of literacy, numeracy, mathematical reasoning as well as understanding and complying with directions.

You can read more about this important research here.

Our Ryde Swimming School

At Cross Street our lesson formats are very consistent. This is because it has been proven that creating a structured environment for learning is very important. Our routines provide a familiar set of activities for our students to practice. Children’s water confidence is built as they review, repeat and re-establish the same skills each lesson. This also allows us to create a solid foundation in stroke fundamentals for your little one. Children, especially the younger ones, need to have skills reviewed and repeated for them to become consistent. 

So why is it so important to get the basics right? Once a child performs a basic skill, such as a streamline with good head and body position, some may think that the particular skill is now “mastered” and doesn’t need to be practiced anymore. In reality, once a skill is performed well, it can often “disappear” for a class or two. Our teachers are trained to look for consistency in skills before progressing children to the next level where the skill in question will be a necessity.

Although it may seem we are just doing the same thing over and over again, the review, repetition and routines all have purpose. Consistency in our lesson formats is just one of the many reasons that produce such great technique and great little swimmers!

Observations taken during class are emailed to parents regularly through our unique reporting system so that you can keep up to date with your child’s progress. 

If this interests you, then pop into Cross Street and chat with our lovely, staff about how you can join the Carlile family 🙂