Swimming with clothes

Hooray! Your child is about to be certified! After all that hard work, your child is finally ready to swim with clothes on for the first time. But which clothes are suitable for diploma swimming? And which ones are not? In this blog you can read all our tips about swimming with clothes on.

T-Shirt

At the first diploma, your child may still wear a short-sleeved T-shirt. You can choose to let your child swim in a long-sleeved shirt right from the start, but you can also just choose a short-sleeved shirt at diploma A to let your child get used to swimming with clothes.

At diploma B and C, on the other hand, it is mandatory to wear a long-sleeved shirt.

For both types of shirts, prefer to choose a shirt that is a little looser, but again, not too big. You can imagine that taking off a wet shirt is hard enough, but it certainly doesn't get any easier if that shirt is very tight or too big. A pajama shirt is a good example, and of course one without sequins or other frills that could fall off in the pool 😉

Pants

Long pants are required for all three diplomas. Previously this was allowed to be shorts at diploma A, nowadays the requirement is really that it is long pants. These pants must have a fastener, so they may not be leggings, tights or sweatpants. Again, wet skinny jeans are impossible to get out of, so some looser fitting pants would be ideal.

Shoes

When choosing shoes, it is important that they be closed at the front, sides and back. Also, the shoe should have a hard sole. For example, you can use clean sneakers, but a water shoe is also acceptable. Please make sure that the closure is not too difficult, as your child should be able to put the shoe on and take it off by himself.

Jacket

At diploma C the children must also wear a coat. This may be a jacket or a raincoat, preferably one without a hood. Well there are not very many hoodless raincoats to be found, so you can choose to cut it off or roll it up and fold it inside, so at least no water runs into it while swimming.

Prepare your child

And finally, prepare your child when he first starts swimming with clothes on. Obviously, swimming is much heavier with wet clothes on, so it will take your child much more effort to stay on top. Explain this before class starts, or even better, "practice" once with clothes on in the bathtub or shower, so your child doesn't sink to the bottom in terror the first time😉