We don’t often associate beach days and time at the pool with winter but our cooler months are when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to water safety.

Much cooler water temperatures and heavier clothes can put swimmers in a dangerous position if they were to ever fall into a body of water fully clothed during winter. In addition to this, increased rainfall can fill up backyard buckets or inflatable swimming pools, creating potential drowning risks for our little swimmers. As little as 3cm of water (enough to cover the nose and mouth) can be enough to cause a drowning hazard.

During winter, make sure to pack away any inflatable pools which are no longer being used and turn buckets upside down to stop rain from filling them up. Most importantly, consistent and continuous swimming lessons, including throughout winter, is the best way to keep kids safe in and around water. Swimming lessons develop muscle memory that swimmers will depend on entirely if they were to accidentally fall into a body of water.

Swimming for 10, 20 or 30-plus minutes non-stop is good general exercise and will help you increase your speed and strength from a baseline level. However, without including some form drills and swim sets with rest in between intervals, you will plateau in speed and fitness in just a few weeks.

See below a freestyle swimming workout we have come up with for you to try on your next swim:

• 3 x 100m warm up with 10-20 second rest between. Goal: To get the blood flowing to your muscles and loosen up your joints.
• Rest 1 minute (stretch, relax)
• 6 x 50m holding a kickboard and focusing on your freestyle arm technique, with 20-30 second rest between. Goal: Working on improving your technique which is a critical step to becoming a faster swimmer.
• Rest 1 minute
• 6 x 100m of higher effort than steady swimming with between 10 to 30 seconds rest after each 100m. Goal: To increase your effort into the 80-90% of maximum range. If you are a newer swimmer, keep this closer to 80% and take more rest. Experienced swimmers swim closer to 90% and take less rest. This is roughly the fastest pace you might attempt to hold in a sprint.
• Rest 1 minute
• 1 x 100m of kicking on your front with torpedo arms.
• 1 x 100m of an easy stroke. Goal: Cooling down and stretching out.

Credit Team USA.

Swimming is a full-body workout and therefore it is important that your body is well nourished but not over-fed before you get in the pool. Food is important to provide a consistent supply of energy, however, sometimes in the morning before you leave or just after work/school, there isn’t enough time to cook an A-grade snack such as a smoothie.

Below is a list of easy snacks to make quickly or easy to organise the day before:

Fruit
Pack a banana, apple or mandarin in your bag or cut up some watermelon, cantaloupe or berries, put them in a container the night before and drizzle with some lemon juice to keep them riper for longer!

Museli Bars
These are too easy to pack away and the supermarket will offer you a range of flavours including, nuts, berries, yoghurt or fruit, anything to tickle your fancy.

Raisins or sultanas
You can buy these in bulk and pack a small amount in a container or buy these in small pocket-sized packets to carry. Easy and delicious!

Toast
Carbs are a fantastic type of food to eat before a swim. They can produce a lot of energy that can be burned off in your workout, plus toast takes roughly one minute to cook and a minute to apply your favourite spread.

Eggs
You’re probably thinking how are making eggs easy and quick? In the morning while you’re getting ready or having a shower just put an egg in a pot of boiling water for around 5 minutes, then take the boiled egg on your way. You can peel it when it’s cold before you swim.

Easy to access make up lessons:

BlueFit Swimming is proud to offer make-up lessons via the parent portal. We offer one (1) make-up lesson per month provided you have marked yourself absent through the portal more than 2 hours before your scheduled class. For more information on how make-up lessons work please click here.

Parent Portal Now Open:

You now have access to the parent portal which means you will be able to:

• Mark yourself absent and book make-ups
• Access swim school resources
• Update payment details
• Check class progress*
• Pay outstanding fees
• Book additional lessons

You can access the parent portal by clicking here. Your login details are below:

Username: |your email address|
Temporary Password: 1234

The portal uses your email as your unique identifier. If the email address in our system is incorrect you may have issues getting access to the portal. For any issues with the portal please email support@bluefit.com.au

Checking Class Progress:
Over the coming weeks as we move around and assess all the students the Student Progress section of the portal will be updated. Each time your child achieves a skill you will also be notified by email.

Swim School Calendar:
Our swimming lessons run throughout the year with a small break over Christmas and Easter. We do not run lessons on public holidays and if you have a scheduled class on this day you will not be charged. To view our swim school calendar click here.

Update Payment Details:
You can enter/update your Direct Debit details through the parent portal by using the login above and going to “Update Payment Details” on the left menu bar.

Discount Structure:
A reminder to take note of our discount structure as this may affect your fortnightly class payments. For a detailed breakdown of our discounts click here.

We welcome your feedback:
We always welcome feedback, good or bad, so that we can continue to improve and provide the best quality service. Change is hard, and there are always teething issues when changing systems. With this in mind we would love to know how things are going and welcome your comments.

We all know swimming is a great form of exercise but do we actually know how to turn it into a workout? Is there more to just laps of strokes when exercising in the water? Of course, there is!

Try this workout below and see if it floats your boat:

WARM-UP:

• Start by 2 laps of walking with high knees, as you get to the end of each lap do 10x squats.
• Shoulder rotations: 10 forward each arm, 10 back each arm.

WORK-OUT:

1. Swim easy, with any stroke for 200m.
2. Grab a kickboard with one hand and perform one-arm freestyle with the freehand for 100m (alternating arms every 25m).
3. Move to your back, and do 2 laps of survival backstroke.
4. Grab a kick-board or hold torpedo on your back and kick for 100m.
5. Do 200m of backstroke aiming to do 50m under 40 seconds.

COOL-DOWN:

Pick any easy swimming movement for 200m and end with stretching against the pool wall.

With the winter season upon us, it becomes a little more difficult to get out of the house. However, swimming is a sport you can do all year round, and everyone can participate, especially when there’s a heated pool!

Here are our top 4 reasons why you and the family should hit up the pool for your next family outing:

1. Swimming is one of the few sports you can do throughout your lifetime
2. It does not require lots of special equipment and gear, all you really need is a swimsuit
3. It creates a reason to get together— a good way to socialise with your family
4. Did you know that swimming can boost your immune system? When cells in the body regularly get blood and oxygen, they function better

So what are you waiting for, grab your bathers and let’s go!