Mesk was a 12-month-old baby when she began her first episode of swimming training. She was only seven months old when her mother took her to the pool for the first time.
“I wanted her to practise everything from an early stage, so that she could get into the routine of sleeping, feeding, and even training,” Dahab Hassanein, Mesk’s mother, said.
Although it was not easy to begin given that Mesk’s grandparents resisted the idea of a baby swimming when so young, Hassanein was encouraged by her husband to give it a try and accept the challenge. Now, Mesk has been practising swimming in the water for five months at the Baby Swimming International Academy (BSA).
The idea of a baby swimming is relatively new to Egyptian society. However, the practice has been going on for years in other countries such as Russia and the US.
“Three years ago, we could only have asked mothers to introduce their young children to the water for a few minutes. Today, our bookings are full of babies aged from 40 days to four years old and in both winter and the summer,” said Samar Al-Kholi, the founder of the BSA in Alexandria and Hurghada governorates.
Since 2018, Al-Kholi has been making efforts to boost the culture of baby swimming in Egypt. She has provided training to more than 400 trainers and has launched the BSA. She is one of the world’s leading baby and toddler swimming consultants and was chosen by the International Creativity Pyramid Festival as one of the hundred most influential people in the region for 2024.
The BSA provides four programmes for babies and mothers that include floating, the international plus programme for children above four years old, and caring for pregnant mothers. “Our first priority is to make sure your baby feels safe and relaxed in water. We want the baby to feel happy and the mother to feel comfortable seeing her baby developing motor and cognitive skills at an early age,” Al-Kholi added.
The water safety programme is always 1:1 (one instructor and one baby), and the usual timing for a session ranges from 20 to 30 minutes so that the baby and the instructor can have more time for bonding, building up a relationship and accelerated learning.
The programme as a whole is an adaptation of a Russian baby swimming programme tailored to Egyptian society. It is based on educating infants in swimming using professional team members with various achievements in different fields.
According to research published by the UK Baby Centre, a pregnancy and parenting website, babies are born with the ability to swim. It is known as the “swimming reflex” that allows them to make swimming motions and move their arms and legs. They also have a “dive reflex” that can make them hold their breath and open their eyes when under water.
Baby swimming has enormous benefits for young children. Al-Kholi recalls one baby who was only three months old when the mother came to her because of her child’s heavy sinus infection with mucus on her chest. The baby used to attend oxygen sessions to improve her breathing as a result. However, after just one session in water, the baby’s lungs improved dramatically as the swimming helped to strengthen the heart, lungs, muscles, and joints.
“Now she is seven months old, and all the breathing problems have gone,” Al-Kholi said.
“The instructors will support and encourage your baby to roll back and float independently, using touch cues and commands. It’s remarkable to see your little one floating safely and confidently on their back where they have learnt they can rest and breathe,” Al-Kholi said describing the programme in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly.
Baby swimming involves challenges and builds many skills. “That is why I love the field. There is a difference between training a baby and training a four-year-old child. It is much easier to train a baby of six months old,” Rehab Salah, a swimming instructor said.
Salah has been at the BSA for two years and has provided training to more than 50 babies. “We work on physical activities such as rolling and diving. One of the most important skills we teach is how a baby can save itself and how to move from one point to another.”
“We work on the baby’s cognitive and communicative development through repetition, reward, and praise. Using verbal and touch cues, we guide them towards psychological development and help them feel trust and at ease in water,” she added.
In addition to professional and physical skills, love and affection are key skills that baby swimming instructors should have.
Shereen Youssef, the mother of Omar (10 years old) and Karma (four), said that her children had only been for a three-month training but had become little swimmers. “We have seen massive changes. From the day we came, Karma has hugely progressed. What is more important is that I have witnessed the love of the instructors for the babies. My child will grow up with such love and affection. That’s really important for me,” Youssef said.
To become a baby swimming trainer is not easy, as it entails courses, activities, and certificates to be taken before holding precious babies. “I am a certified trainer licensed to work with babies. I love babies, and I love to make them smile,” said Ahmed Noureddin, who has been at the BSA for five months.
Noureddin deals with every baby differently. Each is a delicate human being with a different psychology. “One baby might feel anxious or not have slept well or eaten well. So, we must feel how the baby feels and how to soothe him by using songs, toys and games,” he said.
“We must be able to soothe the babies by knowing their cues and patterns and how to address them.”
The feeling of holding a baby swimming for the first time is a tremendous one, he said. “I remember the first time I held a baby for swimming. The feeling cannot be described. It is a mix of love, fear, comfort and anxiety for the baby’s well-being.”
Jomana Khaled, another instructor, agreed. She said that the atmosphere of baby swimming was amazing and the experience was inspiring. She has been a swimming champion in Egypt and the Arab world but is now interested in teaching babies swimming.
“The more you are intimate and love a baby, the happier he or she becomes. We practise swimming in summer and in winter, with the latter having many benefits, such as boosting the immune system by increasing the white blood cells. It also increases circulation and oxygenation. It reduces inflammation, especially in the very young, and it helps in alleviating any pain,” she added.
While it may sound daunting to jump into cold water, there are many benefits to be gained. Salma Abdel-Fattah, mother of four-year-old Mustafa, said what she needed was to see her child progressing and love the instructor.
“Now Mustafa waits for his swimming lesson every week as he has such an adorable relationship with his instuctors built on love and trust,” she said.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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