Here you will find answers to our most frequently asked questions

30 minutes.

A course consists of 10 lessons. 

Baby and toddler swimming with us is so much more than swimming together. The child is taught to handle a situation when it involuntarily ends up in the water. This means that the child learns to hold his/her breath under the water, kick himself/herself up and breathe, return to the direction s/he came from, hold on and climb up. The child is taught early how to move in the water. Swimming stimulates the child's development in many different ways, including socially and sensory as well as motor skills. 

Going to a swimming pool with your child and swimming together is excellent. You can of course do this on your own as long as the water quality is good enough, the temperature is high enough and you limit the swimming time.

However, it is very difficult to have the knowledge and experience of everything that the child can learn. With a professional instructor by your side, you learn when and what your child can do and what and how to proceed with each exercise.

The most difficult thing to teach your child on their own is respect for water and it is very important. As a parent, you react instinctively to the child's actions in the water and the effect is often that you overprotect the child, which means that the child does not learn to take the consequences of her/his own actions and thus does not get the vital water respect knowledge.

It is important that the child learns a healthy approach to water and realizes her/his possibilities but also her/his limitations.

Siblings may not be in the water in a group other than the one in which the sibling is booked. Siblings who are old and mature enough to sit on the bench and watch may do so. Even older siblings can sit alone in the entrance during the sibling's lesson. 

For siblings who want to start swimming, a sibling discount of SEK 500 is given from the second child.

We have no try-out lessons. We believe that more than one opportunity is needed to assess whether this is something for you. For baby swimming beginners, we have a theory lesson on land before you even go into the water so that the parents can be sufficiently safe and prepared.

Our experience is that all children enjoy swimming in warm water with their parents. 

If you do not want to book an entire course, you can book private lessons. Contact our administration at info@linneassimskola.se in order to book a private lesson.

Children are born water-loving and with a natural attitude to water, but sometimes something may have happened that scared the child or the parents may have passed on their own fear.

Children are experts at reading their parents' feelings. If the child is sad in the water, it is very rarely the water that is the cause but almost always hunger or fatigue.

Freestyle (in Sweden known as crawl) is the easiest swimming technique to learn and the child can learn it from about 3 years of age. Breaststroke is motorically more complicated and therefore it is only around the age of 6 that the child can learn it. 

We want at least one adult to be with the child in the water. Up to and including level Sjöhäst, two adults can participate. From level Blåsfisk, one adult accompanies the child. In the beginner group Krabba, it is also only one adult.

The adult becomes the child's personal swimming assistant. We know that swimming lessons will be more effective if the child has an adult with her/him. The waiting time will be shorter and the adult will also acquire their own knowledge to be able to help the child further outside the swimming school.

We want an adult to be with the child until certain criteria are met. In order for a child to be able to be without an accompanying adult in the pool, it needs to:

• Be able to take instructions from the instructor
• Be able to jump from the edge and rotate back
• Be able to jump from the edge and rotate onto its back and float
• Want to be without a parent
• Be able to wait their turn
• Be able to communicate with the instructor (eg know the language, listen and speak)
• Be able to communicate with the other children

At our swimming school, adults who are with the child can start to be moved out of the water from our course level Haj.

At our swimming school, you give your child / children a fantastic opportunity to not only learn to be comfortable in water but also life-saving exercises and, of course, swimming. As an extra encouragement to continue swimming with us and give the children continuity in their swimming practice, we have a bonus system for our customers.

We are so happy and grateful that you swim with us!

Bonus level "Bas"
1-2 courses

5% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.
Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.

Bonus level "Brons"
3-4 courses

Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.
10% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.

Bonus level "Silver"
5-9 courses

Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.
10% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.
One day priority to book make-ups ("återsim").

Bonus level "Guld"
10-19 courses

Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.
10% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.
One day priority to book make-ups ("återsim").
One day priority to course times.

Bonus level "Rubin"
20-29 courses

Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.
10% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.
One day priority to make-ups ("återsim").
One day priority to course times.
Extra swimming ("Extrasim") with instructor.

Bonus level "Diamant"
30+ courses

Discount on morning swimming for adults (subject to capacity).
Discount on CPR courses organized by the swimming school.
10% discount in LINNEASHOPEN.
One day priority to book make-ups ("återsim")
One day priority to course times.
Extra swimming ("Extrasim") with instructor.
A free pool rental of 2 hours per year (incl. shower and change) Can be used for e.g. kid's birthday parties.

Cancellations made 14 days or more in advance of the first lesson of the course, will receive a 100% refund. Later cancellations are not refunded. 

Exceptions to Distansavtalslagen (the Distance Contracts Act):

• Leisure activities performed on a specific day or for a limited period of time, such as cultural events or football matches.

If a participant suffers from an unforeseen illness that makes participation impossible, you can get money back on presentation of a medical certificate if you bought a cancellation protection ("avbokningsskydd") at the time of booking. The cancellation protection applies only to the participant ("deltagare"), i.e. the person swimming, and not if the person responsible ("ansvarig"), for example a parent, becomes ill.

The cancellation protection costs SEK 200 and is paid when booking the course. The protection applies if illness or injury prevents the participant from participating in at least half of the lessons in the course. A medical certificate explaining why the participant cannot attend the lessons is required.

The lower medical limit is a three-month-old child without open wounds. Many parents think that it feels right to start swimming sometime between four and six months of age. The most important thing is that you as a parent think it feels right. After all, a swimming lesson is a happening to fit in every week when the child, if possible, should be rested and fed.

At four to six months of age, the baby will be able to give you more positive feedback in the form of splashing and laughter than if it is younger.

It's never too late to start swimming. Better late than never. However, for the sake of learning to be comfortable in and around water it is good to start swimming early. It is also important to maintain continuity in swimming. Children quickly forget.

There is no upper limit for swimming. In the past, it was believed that one could only go "baby swimming" if the child still had the "diving reflex". It is now known that humans have protective reflexes much longer than what was previously believed, but the most important thing of all is that modern baby swimming does not use reflexes to teach the child to hold their breath underwater. Instead, the aim is for the child to learn to hold their breath voluntarily and at a slow pace so that the child is not rushed. The child is taught to hold their breath before the child will begin practicing to come under the surface of the water.

It is never too late to start swimming!

No, experience and studies show that swimming is of great benefit to asthmatics. There are some studies that show a connection between staying in swimming pools with elevated levels of the chlorine-smelling gas trichloramine and the incidence of asthma, especially in children and young people. A strong chlorine odor means high levels of trichloramines that are not healthy. You should not stay with small children in rooms that smell strongly of chlorine. The pools used for baby swimming should thus have high hygiene requirements for everyone who swims there.

In our pool, Linnéabassängen, we have low levels of bound chlorine and therefore it does not smell much chlorine. We check the water quality by taking samples twice a day. We disincfect the pool with chlorine, lower the pH with carbon dioxide and supplement with UV light to eliminate microorganisms. We backwash our large pool filters several times a week.

No. It is an outdated perception and is based on the fact that the child would still have a reflex that enables him/her to be underwater.
The "diving reflex", which is actually several interacting reflexes, is not necessary to teach the child to hold their breath underwater. On the contrary, modern baby swimming schools do not use any reflexes at all. Instead, we teach the child to slowly and gently hold the breath voluntarily even before it comes underwater for the first time.
 
With us, the children do not start swimming underwater until the second level, Sjöstjärna. During the beginners course, we practice pouring water over the child's head, the amount of water is gradually increased throughout the course for the child to become accustomed to it.

Children have more difficulty regulating body temperature than adults do. The first summer, it is usually not advised to swim outdoors in our Swedish summer waters. It all depends on several factors: how hot it is in the air, how hot it is in the water, how old the child is, how much body fat it has on the body and how long you are in the water.

Children under the age of two should not swim in colder water than 32°C, and then for a maximum of 30-45 minutes.

If it is very hot in the air, however, it can even be good to take a dip outdoors even though the water temperature is lower. It is then very important to be observant of how the child reacts.

In ordinary swimming pools it is about 26-29°C, and it is therefore far too cold for small children to swim in. In baby swimming pools it is often around 34°C, and at the very least 32°C.

It can also get too hot for the baby. Whirlpools keep about 38°C, which is in the warmest category. It is also important to keep in mind that the chlorine fumes usually collect at the water surface where the child has their head, which is why it is not advisable to spend time with babies in whirlpools at all.

Sauna baths with temperatures of 70-100°C are also much too hot for a small child. Saunas should therefore be avoided until the child is big enough to get out of the sauna if it gets too hot.

In the beginner's course Ankan, the first course is a theory lesson ("teorilektion") that goes for about an hour. The remaining lessons are 30 minutes in the water. During your theory lesson, you will be given all the information you need to know before you go into the water and you also get the opportunity to ask questions. The theory lesson can be scheduled a different day and time than the other lessons.

Yes, it is very good if you offer your baby the breast or bottle even while in the water if the baby is hungry or needs comforting. While feeding the baby, sit on one of the steps in the pool in such a way so that the child's body is as deep in the water as possible so as not to be cooled down but at the same time with its head safely above the water surface.

A child who is not yet potty-trained should wear baby swimming trunks. These should be of the kind that can be tightened around the thighs and abdomen so that they hold tight and prevent any poo leakage. Good baby swimming trunks are made of a material that holds tightly but at the same time can breathe so that it does not fill up with too much air. If the pants float, the child can get the wrong idea about the characteristics of its own body in the water. The trunks should also not be too thick so that they impede the child's mobility in the water. Trunks are generally better than a swimsuit because the swimsuit removes much of the small body's contact with the stimulating water.

Potty-trained children can wear ordinary swimwear in the pool. However, make a habit of always going to the toilet before entering the pool.

All learning has its ups and downs. There are also specific developmental phases that are most noticeable at the age of about seven to nine months (Phase 1) and about the age of one and a half to two and a half years (Phase 2) which can be incorrectly interpreted as the child having stopped liking swimming.
Phase 1 is characterized by the child becoming clingy and "motherly" and wanting a lot of closeness. Phase 2 is characterized by the child saying "no" and "I do not want to" and perhaps preferring sitting on the steps and playing in the pool. Both phases require respect for the child's person. In Phase 1, the child needs closeness and lots of hugging. There are "close exercises" that you practice during your lessons in this phase. Phase 2, which can be a little longer, is often interpreted as "the child does not want to do anything at all anymore", but in reality there are lots of things that the child wants to do. It's just a matter of figuring out what! Take the opportunity to practice what the child is motivated to do in the moment!

Talk to your instructor or contact our administration to get support with your swimming.

It is a pity to stop swimming due to a natural development phase because the phase always passes. And it does pass faster if you respect the phase that the child is going through and avoid getting frustrated.

It is very individual how long it takes before a child learns to swim. After about three months of swimming, the child is usually able to swim between the parents underwater. 

At one and a half to two years of age, a child who has swum since s/he was a baby is usually able to return to the edge itself.

At the age of two, the child usually is able to learn to come up for air to be able to swim longer distances.

At the age of three, the child is usually able to use his arms more efficiently and be able to swim freestyle (in Sweden we call freestyle "crawl").

At the age of four, some children can learn the breaststroke swimming style, but it is not really something we strive for in the first place. The swimming association, Simskoleförbundet, also now recommends that you start with the freestyle technique.

Bacteria and other microorganisms cannot survive in the pool water as long as the standards for water quality are followed. The child must wear baby swimming trunks so that poop does not leak into the water. Urine is normally germ-free. In our pool we have very high quality water.

Colds and other infectious diseases can be transmitted in the air between children and adults in the pool room as in other situations if people socialize closely.

In Russia, pediatrician Vladimir Gutermann has conducted studies showing that baby-swimming children get fewer respiratory infections than other children of the same age. He claims that it is because the heart and lung muscles are strengthened and that the massage that the water provides stimulates the lymphatic system.

No, but if you have a tendency for sensitive skin, the water can cause the skin to dry slightly. This is prevented by moisturizing the skin regularly. Many skin diseases, such as flexural eczema, appear at the age when the child begins to swim, which is why many people misinterpret swimming in the pool as the cause of the problems.

There is no medicinal allergy to chlorine. It is about whether one has sensitive skin that becomes dry easily.

Do not moisturize the child before the swimming lesson, because then the skin will be very slippery. Moisturize regularly at home and after being in water.

No, ear infections are not caused by swimming. No water reaches the middle ear. The ear canal is narrow, crooked and covered with a water-repellent wax. The eardrum sits like a wall between the ear canal and the middle ear. Ear infections are formed by bacteria migrating up to the middle ear from the throat via the eardrum and not via the outer ear.

Everyone can get irritated in the eyes if the water is of poor quality (high levels of bound chlorine).
Even if the water quality is good, some people react by turning red in the eyes. This is not dangerous and usually nothing that the child even feels. It disappears within an hour or so after swimming.