Last updated: 10 April 2025
Helping kids overcome their fear of swimming
Is your child afraid of water, making swimming a daunting challenge? You're not alone! A fear of swimming (often known as aquaphobia) is common amongst infants, toddlers, older children and even adults.
Many parents are tempted to put off swimming lessons, thinking their child's fear will pass with time, or give up on the idea entirely. However this only sets back the development of their swimming skills, which can lead to dangerous situations around water.
Thankfully, there are numerous ways to help your little one overcome their fear. There's no reason why they can't go on to become an extremely confident and competent swimmer who can safely enjoy the water.
In this article, we explore why children often develop a fear of swimming and share effective approaches and strategies to address this issue. You'll find practical tips for parents with anxious swimmers and hear a heartwarming story from a Kingswim mum whose son gained confidence through swimming lessons.
Let's dive in and discover how to turn fear into fun in the water!
Why are kids afraid of water?
There are several factors that can cause aquaphobia in kids. As with most phobias, sometimes it is caused by one factor alone, but more often it is a combination of the following:
- Parents unintentionally passing down a fear of water.
- Separation anxiety (from their parents)
- Anxiety caused by the noise, activity and smell around the pool
- The memory of a negative or traumatic experience in water
- Dislike of getting wet
- Dislike of water going in their nose or eyes
- Seeing an upsetting water-related incident in the pool or on TV
- Unfamiliar environments (if the setting, activities, noise and smell are new to them).
If you can establish the cause of their aquaphobia, it will become a lot easier to address.
How do you teach a child to swim who is afraid of water?
Often children who are afraid of swimming have sensitive, intense or inflexible temperaments by nature. It’s vitally important for you to be positive and relaxed at all times as this helps to take the pressure off them in what is a stressful situation.
Validate their feelings and never be agitated or judgmental in dealing with them. Your patience is also key in helping them to overcome their fear of swimming.
Make trips to the swimming pool as fun as possible and slowly they should start to have positive associations with the activity.
How to overcome the fear of water
Many experts recommend using a method called systematic desensitisation, which involves taking baby steps to get your child from a place where they are fearful of swimming to being a confident swimmer. Talk to your child and map out the journey in tiny steps. Follow them very slowly, making sure to reward your child every time they complete one.
Gradual exposure
Gradually begin to expose your child to water, slowly increasing the level of exposure. Once they are comfortable at a particular level, for example running water on their head, you can move to the next level and try a different water exposure. For example, you could help them put their head under water in the bath, then try water exposure in a baby wading pool.
Relaxation skills
Using visualisation, breathing skills and mindfulness skills as well as progressive muscle relaxation exercises can help overcome the fear of swimming. As time goes by, you'll notice your child gaining confidence in handling larger bodies of water and finally getting ready for their first swimming lesson.
Create a hierarchy of fears
For adults and older kids who are afraid of water it can help to first start by identifying and creating a hierarchy of 10 fears, with number 10 being the scariest. Then identify what is the experience they most fear, for example swimming underwater, to the least scary like dipping their toe in the water. Think of ways to expose them or yourself to each of these levels. Start with the least scary one and gradually introduce these experiences in a caring, safe and understanding way.
Social anxiety when starting swimming
Social anxiety might also be a factor behind their fear of swimming. If this is the case, consider opting for one-on-one lessons as opposed to group lessons while your child builds their confidence.
Staying close by while your little one learns to swim can help ease society anxiety. They may find it comforting to know someone is nearby, until they are able to make new friends. Going for a swim in smaller pools that don't have recreational swimming or distracting water slides may also help deal with social anxiety.
Needless to say, most professional swimming instructors will pick up on your child’s fear of swimming immediately and be trained in the best techniques to overcome it. If you have any doubts at all speak to them prior to the first lesson.
It’s essential not to make their fear of water a big deal. It is quite common and perfectly natural amongst children and can be overcome with patience, reassurance and a combination of the techniques we have outlined.
Tips for parents with scared swimmers
- Make going to the pool and swimming lessons a positive experience. For example you could bring some snacks for a post swimming lesson treat and play their favourite songs in the car journey to the centre. (Try singing along to Kingley's Water Safety song)
- Always be positive and relaxed and help your child get excited about going to the pool and swimming lessons.
- If they have a complete fear of water, rather than a specific fear of swimming pools, you might want to use baths and paddling pools to start off.
- It could be the case that your child is more scared by the idea of swimming than the actual experience. In these cases it is essential to take some time to observe the surroundings before they get started.
- Encourage your child to be a part of the process and invite them to help you prepare their swimming bag and things for the pool ahead of your trip to the pool. (This will also help you be more organised and ensure you don't forget anything that may increase their anxiety at the pool)
- Encouraging them to play with water toys on the side of the pool is a great way to build comfort. The next step, if they’re feeling comfortable, would be to do some paddling.
- Validate your childʼs feelings and never be agitated or judgemental towards your child who is dealing with a fear of water.
Each time your child takes a little step forward and achieves a new goal, you'll see their bravery and confidence start to increase. You might want to give them a small reward as they progress to help keep up their motivation.
Parents play an important role in reassuring their children that they are capable of overcoming their fears and anxieties around the pool. Demonstrating that you are relaxed and confident in their ability to develop swimming skills will help your child take the steps to overcome their fears.
Joanne's story: From fear to confidence
Four years ago, Abdulkarim was terrified of water, turning family beach trips into a stressful time. Determined not to let their son miss out on swimming, his parents, Joanne and Muneeb Khan, enrolled their son at Kingswim. Despite a tough start and a few tears, they persevered, understanding the importance of having swimming skills in Australia. Muneeb, originally from Pakistan where swimming opportunities were scarce, wanted a different experience for his son.
Now five years old, Abdulkarim’s transformation is complete. He swims confidently with his cousins, a big difference and a life changer for the Khan family.
Sally, the swim teacher at Kingswim, played a crucial role in Abdulkarim’s progress. Her patient approach was exactly what he needed to build trust. When he was hesitant to take part or struggled with techniques like kicking his legs, Sally offered encouragement and individual attention and even provided tips for at-home practice. It’s this passion and commitment that truly sets our Kingswim teachers apart.
Joanne reflects, “It’s this commitment to individual attention that we found sets the Kingswim teachers apart. Sally’s guidance was instrumental in helping Abdulkarim find his confidence in the water.”
The impact of these lessons went beyond the pool. “Abdulkarim used to cling to me in new situations, and now he walks into school confidently,” Joanne shares. Swimming gave Abdulkarim a newfound sense of independence, valuable for any child, especially entering the schooling years.
This change was significant for the whole family. Gone are the days of stressful beach outings. Now, the family looks forward to holidays and time at the beach without the anxiety that used to cloud their plans. And with their youngest son also starting lessons early, the parents are excited to see the progress repeated.
“Seeing Abdulkarim make progress and overcome his fear of water is a big milestone,” Joanne said. “We still understand that it is crucial to always supervise children when we’re at the beach, but swimming lessons have provided Abdulkarim with the confidence to enjoy these outings, which has been a life changer for our family.”
Swimming lessons are important way to develop water confidence and independence. It is of course, essential to always have an adult supervising when children are around water. We call this ‘Actively Supervising’, which means watching your child closely with no distractions. This applies even if your child is an experienced swimmer and even if lifeguards or swim teachers are present.
At Kingswim, all swimming instructors are trained to pick up a childʼs fear of swimming and the water and will know the best techniques to overcome it. Kingswim also has supervisors on the pool deck who can be used as extra support to help get your child comfortable with the environment and the water. With your help and guidance at home, and in the hands of trained and professional swimming instructors, feel rest assured that your child will be able to tackle anything that they may be afraid of; including swimming lessons for the very first time.
Here at Kingswim, we offer a range of swimming lessons for babies, toddlers and older children as well as water safety awareness information to help build water confidence from a young age.
In our Foundation program for babies and infants, parents participate in all classes to help their child feel comfortable when they are first learning to swim. Our nationally-qualified swimming teachers are extremely experienced at dealing with any fear of water amongst our learners across all of our learn to swim programs.
For more information on how to help your child overcome their fear of water, or to enquire about our swimming lessons – get in touch!