Very proud in her sequined pink swimsuit, Yike slowly moves towards the indoor pool of the mythical Molitor swimming pool, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Cap well fixed on the head, diving goggles on the nose to protect his eyes from chlorine, but without buoy or armbands, the five-year-old girl does not hesitate to enter the deep end. She sits quietly on the steps alongside two other boys, and begins the exercises dictated by Farhane, the lifeguard who welcomes her on this Wednesday afternoon in July. “Come on, let’s go, we move our feet as if to make foam! We make the mill with our arms!” Encourages the professor. Facing him, the children perform the warm-up, before being cut off by an urgent desire. A first, then a second, ask to be accompanied to the toilets by the coordinator, who has remained on the edge of the pool to welcome the parents and manage the flow of blond heads who, every half hour, break out of the cabins. “These are the hazards of working with children,” laughs Farhane.
Throughout the afternoon, the lifeguard takes turns with three of his colleagues to accompany the little swimmers according to their ease in the water: improvement for the more advanced, learning to swim for intermediate levels, and “self-rescue” or “anti-drowning” lessons, from the age of three, in order to teach the youngest survival reflexes in the event of a fall in the water and the basics of swimming.
Offered by the company Swim Stars since 2017, this last program is more than popular: “In six years, more than 30,000 children have benefited from it, for sessions of a maximum of five students who are full most of the year”, summarizes Nicolas Moreau, co-founder of the company. The principle is simple: while drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in everyday life among people under 25, and children under six accounted for 22% of the 1,480 accidental drownings in 2021 according to the latest study by Public health Franceteachers teach toddlers the right things to do if they accidentally find themselves in a pool without having a foothold.
“We show them how to turn around and float, move to the edge for at least five meters without panicking, get out of the water and call for help,” explains Nicolas Moreau. “The goal of the self-rescue is the acceptance of water on the body, learning to partially rise to the surface, losing plantar support… If a child agrees to jump into the water, rise to the surface and let himself be carried, it’s a given for the rest of his life, “adds Frédéric, lifeguard at Swim Stars.
“It’s very uneven”
In the Molitor pool basin, Yike is not there yet. After several sessions, the little girl is just learning to put herself on her stomach, then on her back in a “starfish” position, supported by a foam noodle or by Farhane’s arm. “Come on, three of us dive and you breathe. Are you ready?” asks the instructor to teach him how to breathe out in the water. In response, the little girl tilts her head from left to right, slightly worried. She glances at her two little comrades comfortably installed on the steps: absorbed in choosing the color of their own fries, they will be of no help to her. Farhane does not get discouraged, immerses himself to lead by example, uses a game to divert his attention. “The goal is to make small bubbles, like a fish. Look!”. Amused, Yike imitates her, holds on for five seconds, raises her head, smiling. For the next twenty minutes, she will swim to the ledge imitating “the little dog” with her feet, simulating “the movement of the windmill” with her arms, will fetch a hoop placed under the water and will even jump from the ledge without assistance.
At the Molitor swimming pool, Farhane encourages Yike to jump into the pool without assistance.
© / The Express
“It’s a real victory”, comments his mother behind the glass doors of the swimming pool – in order not to distract their offspring, the parents are not allowed to stay at the edge of the water. Yike has come a long way: despite taking baby-swimming lessons at the age of six months, the little girl had a panic fear of water for years. “She hated swimming, going to the pool. She didn’t dare put her head under water at all, I would never have believed that she could dive as she does today!” Rejoices the 30-year-old. A few meters away, another mother is pleased with the progress of her three-year-old son. “We tried to teach him to swim during the last holidays, but he didn’t evolve. Here, he learns to go back and forth, to no longer be afraid of the depths, to join the edge in case of problem… It’s worth it, “she breathes. The little boy, who has been taking self-rescue lessons since February, is proud to confide that he now dares to jump without armbands into the pool “of the big ones”. Despite everything, the mother qualifies. “I think it’s way too early for him to swim alone, and I wouldn’t really be reassured if he fell into a pool without adults watching him,” she says.
At the end of the apprenticeship, which can last “between one and ten weeks” depending on the children, the level of each future swimmer is assessed via a “self-rescue test”, during which the student must show that he is able to float, swim and get out of the water on his own. He can then move on to the next step, and join an apprenticeship or advanced course. “It all depends on the ease of the children, it’s very uneven,” admits Frédéric. “After two lessons, some change level, while others will need several weeks to even manage to float”. In the arms of the lifeguard, some children clearly let themselves be carried away, while others are already swimming several meters.
Whatever the time – and the price, for sessions from around twenty euros per half hour – the concept seems to appeal to parents. Initially launched in Parisian swimming pools, the courses have gradually developed outside the capital, and Swim Stars now collaborates with 72 establishments in the territory. Soon, the company will even export internationally, with two partner pools in Barcelona. Other players are also following the same vein: Premier Bain, which depends on the aquacycling company Aqua By, launched an offer similar to that of Swim Stars last March, in its four Parisian studios and for courses charged from 19 to 29 euros. “It’s a hit: from June, all of our classes were full,” told L’Express Mathilde Vitel, co-founder of Premier Bain. To the point that his team is already thinking about doubling them, or even adding new slots at the start of the school year.