Testimonials
Dear Nancy,
Thank you for this notice.
As you may be aware from our paper work that I have given in to the front office of the club, we will shortly be departing for New Zealand as our posting here has come to an end. Therefore our last day of swimming will be Wednesday 25 August, for both Eleanor and Tanya.
We look forward to seeing you on your return from Korea, but can I just say now how grateful we are to you for all you have done to make swimming so enjoyable for our girls. We have seen the improvement in their fitness and technique, but more importantly I think you have given them swimming as a life long fitness tool – and for that we are sincerely thankful.
God bless you in your witness to the children and in your work as an inspiring coach.
With our sincere best wishes and deep thanks
Sarah and Martin Harvey
This is for all my mommy friends who are thinking of introducing swimming to your little ones. Since we’ve been having so much fun in the water with ‘Umar, I thought I should share abit about the joy and benefits of infant swimming, as well as the swim school that ‘Umar is enrolled in.
“The benefits of “baby-friendly”, infant/toddler swimming are unique, uplifting and contribute to the positive development of the whole child. Through the soothing medium of water, we are able to tap into the child’s potential, both within and without.
Researchers have documented that the stimulating effect of child-paced infant/toddler swimming lessons has the potential to increase intelligence, concentration, alertness, and perceptual abilities. Improvement in social, emotional and physical development has also been published. Of course, the manifestation of such inspired cognitive, personal and motor development takes time, patience and repetition.”
From babyswimming.com, a great website about infant and toddler swimming
We read up quite a bit about swimming for infants before we decided to enrol him in swim school. Once we were convinced of its benefits, we went hunting around for a swim school that runs gentle, child-centered programs in a fun and positive environment. We saw the swim centre that uses a neck float in a tub, but there was just something unnatural about putting a neck float on a baby and leaving him alone to swim in a tub. We thought skin-to-skin bonding with parents should feature strongly in an aquatic programme. We did borrow the neck float and tried it with Umar once or twice and while he enjoyed the water, he never could stand having something around his neck for very long.
So we were lucky to have found aquaDucks / Swim Centre Verhoef. They ticked off all the requirements of a baby-friendly aquatic programme. Their coaches are swim coaches trained in early childhood development, and their lessons use toys, games, songs, motion and verbal communication to stimulate learning interactions. Their lessons are child-paced, focusing on building the child’s self confidence, personal development.. and most importantly, respectful of each child’s feelings during the learning process. Not once have I seen the coaches push a child too hard, or rushing the child to do what he/she is not ready to. Their style is very nurturing and patient, forever smiling and expressing joy in learning, which fits well with our own parenting philosophy.
We enrolled ‘Umar as an aquaDuck at the class in Tanglin Village when he was about 8 months. It has been so much fun that I feel selfish not blogging about it. Though the emphasis is on the fun and bonding (majority of the parents that join the lessons are daddies), after just 2 months of lessons, Umar’s able to demonstrate the following skills: close his eyes and hold his breath on cue when dipped underwater, perform a sitting jump off the side of the pool (we sing humpty dumpty as a cue!) and reach for and grab onto the side of the pool, an important safety skill.
I highly recommend aquaDucks, and Coach Nurun in particular; she’s so good with the babies… ‘Umar loves her! Though ‘Umar started lessons a little later than the recommended 6 months, he was already very comfortable in the water by the time he started classes. Why does ‘Umar love the water so much? It could be the swimming and snorkeling I enjoyed while I was pregnant with him, or it could be the fact that I spent some time labouring in the water to ease my contractions, but I think what was most critical to our little ‘Umar’s love for water at such an early age was the homebathing tips sent by Coach Nurun when he was 4 months.
Hope this post proves useful to all my mommy readers out there who are looking forward to have a splashing good time with your little ones!
Thank you aquaDucks for bringing such joyful learning moments with our little ‘Umar! We can’t wait for the next term to start!
Nurhidayati,
Parent of Umar – 11 Months
Dear Nurun,
As we make our departure from Singapore, we wanted to thank you for being such a wonderful swimming teacher for Sam. Your patient and gentle approach combined with your professionalism has been wonderful for all of us. We appreciate your support as Sam has grown from a water baby into a confident toddler in the pool!
THANK YOU!!
Symon and Pip,
Parents of Sam- 3 years
Dear Nurun and Koen,
Thank you so much for your effort in coaching Hermione these past 2 years. It was a relief to see her transformation from the little kid who would not get into the pool (if you recall the 1st lesson) to what she can manage now in the water. She really likes her swimming lessons and have always looked forward to them every week.
Mrs Goh,
Parent of Hermione- 6 years
Hi Nancy
Two years ago I participated to my first biathlon (SAFRA), and it took me 38 minutes to swim 1.5 km, and a total of 1h33min. After that I started the training with you at the Dutch Club.
Last Sunday, at the SAFRA biahtlon again, my results improved a lot mostly because I was 8 minutes faster in the swim … Thank you !
Cheers
Ricardo, Adult Swim Programme, Hollandse Club
Amelia will continue with her class in the next term…
We are, by the way, really pleased with her progress recently as the coaches have worked hard to get her over a “I don’t want to swim anymore” phase that lasted several months. She now loves swimming again.
Elisa,
Parent of Amelia- 3 years
The swimming programme has been great so far and we are really sorry to have to go. In one of the classes we used to attend in London, all the instructor did was to stand by the pool and shout instructions to the parents. Your classes are so much better!
Jen,
Parent of Alexandra- almost 2 years
Please pass on our thanks to Dave. The kids had some great sessions with him and really came along in their skills. Noah in particular had some issues with previous swimming classes (another company) and I was amazed at how well he took to it again.
Thank you again.
Angela,
Parent of Noah, Ariel and Ishbel- 6 years, 4 years & 2 years
