07/01/2026
“Earlier this year we set out to find swimming lessons that worked. I was a very late-onset learner, so as I looked for classes for our grandkids I set about getting advice from the best. Shane Gould was not only a brilliant Olympian but has since investigated the culture of swimming in Australia in her beautiful PhD thesis.
She acknowledges that, for some of us, water can be a scary place. Tell me about it.
“In water you are unstable and you can’t get air whenever you want,” she says.
Here are Gould’s top tips on what you should look for in swimming lessons and swimming teachers.
1. Make sure you look for a swim school that helps kids feel their buoyancy, the way gravity operates differently in water. Lessons need to teach these fundamentals without bowing to pressure from the curriculum or parents to see ‘travel’ as the measure of success.
3. Active floating for a duration of time is the better measure of swimming lessons’ success. A beautiful swimming stroke does not guarantee safety; floating does. (Most people’s feet sink. That doesn’t matter. Feet don’t breathe.)
4. Look for a calm atmosphere. This can be tricky. Lots of swim schools are in big public pools. Maybe look for quieter times.
5. Seek staff who treat you like a human, not an open wallet.
6. You want a swim school with an ethic to get fundamentals first, focusing on duration, not distance. That creates safety.
7. Not too much waiting for your kids to get their turns is important, although some waiting is fine.”
In Australia, learning to swim is not just a rite of passage, it’s a necessary skill. But what should you look for in a swimming teacher? One of the legends of the sport offers some valuable advice.
