The Wembley Waves swim team attended their first swim meet this summer. The meet was at Barrington Golf Club swimming pool against the Barrington “Barracudas”.
This was the first swim meet ever for a large number of swimmers (and their parents). But, we also had some veteran swimmers and families on hand. And with expert guidance from these veterans and the coaches, everything went well!
Kudos to the entire swim team staff who managed the meet and worked with the swimmers to make this a successful event! Looking forward to the next meet of the season!
Wembley’s Aquatics Director, Heather, has been a Bainbridge resident since 1987. In her younger years, she grew up swimming in invitationals and meets at The Wembley Club. She always loved the community, and loved the family atmosphere here. Heather was a diver on the swim team for Kenston High School, as well as an independent club team.
Today, she absolutely loves running Wembley’s pool! She is a Certified Pool Operator (CPO) through the National Aquatics Council. She is also a Red Cross certified Lifeguard Manager.
Our mission is to ensure that everyone has the skills and knowledge to be safe around and in any body of water; be it a pool, lake or ocean. We find students excel using our “unstructured-structured” lesson plan. We use our unique method of giving swim lessons to ensure students not only learn safety but enjoy the water!
Unstructured-Structured Swim Lessons
What is the unstructured-structured swim lesson? We believe that every student learns differently. Our instructors use the Red Cross WSI guidelines as many others use — that is the structured part. What makes us unique is that we use the “structure” in an “unstructured” way and adapt to the needs of the students. Our lesson plans are never the same for any student or even each lesson. The instructor gets to know the students and adapts the lessons according to their needs.
Repetition is important for learning; but doing the same exact routine every lesson can get boring and eventually slow down progress. We use repetitive skills but change it up so the student doesn’t associate the activities as being the same.
For instance, blowing bubbles, doing 10 submerging bobs, making chipmunk faces, and retrieving objects from the bottom of the pool are all practicing breath control? Did you know breast stroke can be improved by using a kick board or even hula hoops? A child typically has the average attention span of 3-6 minutes for each year old. Our lessons are set to be 30 minutes long. The majority of our students aren’t able to swim for the full 30 minutes without their mind wandering off or giving up on lessons all together. We use simple steps to keep the lessons moving forward and the students attention for the entire 30 minutes!
Not all kids of the same age are developmentally equal and no student should be controlled in the water by their differences in coordination, motor functioning and general comfortability in water. Our Wembley Club Way of swimming lessons allows everyone to learn!
Wembley’s Aquatics Director, Heather, has been a Bainbridge resident since 1987. In her younger years, she grew up swimming in invitationals and meets at The Wembley Club. She always loved the community, and loved the family atmosphere here. Heather was a diver on the swim team for Kenston High School, as well as an independent club team.
Today, she absolutely loves running Wembley’s pool! She is a Certified Pool Operator (CPO) through the National Aquatics Council. She is also a Red Cross certified Lifeguard Manager.
Are you debating between Private and Group Swim Lessons? We believe each student learns differently and may benefit more from one type than the other, neither one is better. It is important to understand the 2 types of lessons, and to be able to choose what works best for your child. Water safety is always a priority, remember, the ultimate goal is to have a child that learns to swim, enjoys the water, and is comfortable with and aware of water safety. The type of lesson is a preference…the endgame is the same.
Group Lessons
Many swimming locations/schools focus on group lessons putting several students with one instructor for a 30 minute lesson. At Wembley Club, we limit our groups to a maximum of 4 students with the majority of the groups being 2-3 students. Why? This allows for adequate time for the instructor to correct and guide each student. Depending on the size of the group, individual attention during a group lesson is approximately 10-15 minutes per child. One great benefit of group lessons is encouragement and social interaction with other children at his/her same swimming ability. In a group setting, often times students push to excel in stroke development and other skills as they see each exercise as a competition to complete with the other students.
Private Lessons
Private lessons allow for the student to have one-on-one instruction for a full 30 minutes. The student sets the pace for the lesson. If the student excels in a skill faster than other skills, it allows more time to give attention to weaker skills rather than following the abilities of the other students, like in a group lesson. Students learn at different speeds; this makes private lessons more beneficial especially when initially learning to swim and are timid about the water. Another perk to private lessons is the flexibility in choosing a day and time that fits best with your personal schedule.
Adults who wish to either improve strokes or learn the basics of swimming benefit from private swim lessons. The instructor can work one on one with the individual no matter what the goal is. Some adults have never learned to swim….that is okay, and why we are here!
No matter what the lesson type is, ultimately we strive for a comfort level between the parents, students, and teacher that will allow the student to thrive and become an awesome swimmers or improve the skills they already possess.
We are very fortunate at Wembley to continue lessons throughout the year with the pool being covered during non-summer months!
Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out for any swim lesson inquiries. Heather@wembleyclub.com
Check out our Swim Page for more information about everything going on at our pool!
Wembley’s Aquatics Director, Heather, has been a Bainbridge resident since 1987. In her younger years, she grew up swimming in invitationals and meets at The Wembley Club. She always loved the community, and loved the family atmosphere here. Heather was a diver on the swim team for Kenston High School, as well as an independent club team.
Today, she absolutely loves running Wembley’s pool! She is a Certified Pool Operator (CPO) through the National Aquatics Council. She is also a Red Cross certified Lifeguard Manager.
