Anyone who’s taught before knows that keeping students invested in their learning means making the material relevant to their lives. This principle resonates not only in the classroom but in the pool as well. Whether your students are competitive swimmers or just enjoy swimming recreationally, the skills they can learn in the water can be applied throughout their lives. Helping them recognize their progress in these critical areas can make all the difference in keeping their interest in aquatic life.
Perseverance and goal setting
Swimming requires a ton of practice, and it can be frustrating for students when they don’t see immediate results. However, with time and effort, they can improve their skills and become not just better swimmers but harder workers. The work ethic that’s produced in the pool is highly transferable to other areas of their lives, such as school or their job–activities where they may also be approaching unprecedented challenges using unrefined skills.
In order to keep students dedicated, remember to provide positive, constructive feedback while helping them set realistic goals and work towards achieving them. Whether it’s improving their stroke technique or swimming a certain distance, creating benchmarks and tracking progress can help motivate them to put in extra time and effort–in all areas of life.
Organization
Swimming requires a significant time commitment, especially for competitive swimmers who train multiple times a week or even per day. This type of schedule can teach important time management skills, such as prioritizing tasks and making the most of available time, which in turn can help students more efficiently juggle the academic and extracurricular areas of their lives.
The sport also requires a great deal of traditional organization, from packing swim gear to planning workouts. To help them succeed, don’t take this skill for granted, and make sure you’re taking steps to help students implement structure. It’s important they have a system in place for keeping track of their equipment, such as having a dedicated swim bag or using a checklist to ensure they have everything they need. Additionally, planning their workouts in advance can help you, as their instructor, make the most of the time in the pool and achieve your collective goals.
While managing schedules, keeping track of deadlines, and staying on top of tasks are pertinent skills for them, they’re equally important for you. Captyn can help you keep your camps, practices, and lessons organized with:
- Seamless communication features to keep students and parents informed.
- Roster management.
- Internal notes.
- Full account branding.
- Payment tracking.
- And much more!
Teamwork
Whether it’s in a camp setting or a group practice, swimming can also teach valuable teamwork. While some swimmers specifically participate in relay events where they must work together to achieve a common goal, just being in a group practice setting can foster a sense of inclusion, belonging, and healthy competition. Learning to communicate effectively, trust your teammates, and support one another can meaningfully be applied to other team-based activities in school, work, or social settings as well.
Self-discipline and mental toughness
Swimming also requires a lot of discipline, as students must be committed to practicing regularly and following a training plan. Developing this self-control can generally help students maintain a healthy lifestyle, study for exams, or work toward any long-term goal they may have.
While swimming can be a mentally challenging sport, students can learn to push themselves to keep going, even when they’re tired or uncomfortable. This mental toughness can be applied to other areas of their lives where they will undoubtedly face obstacles and adversity. Learning to push through difficult times will make them more resilient, more successful people.
Ultimately, swimming is about more than just laps. It can teach valuable life skills that shape students into responsible adults who are ready to face the world–both in water and on dry land. Could you use a hand with your own administrative needs? Captyn is here to help you help your students succeed. Contact us to find out more!
