Customer story: Tracey, Zach and the water wobbles

Tracey heads up our teaching & delivery team and has been a Nemo Swimming teacher for over nine years. She has taught hundreds – thousands, even – of little Nemos (and their grown-ups) and has helped many a child through the water wobbles.

She is also a mum to three children herself and has first-hand experience of the water wobbles with her little boy, Zach.

Our story

“Zach started going through the wobbles when he was around one-and-a-half years old. It came out of nowhere and there really wasn’t an obvious trigger at the time. It was hard, and it felt like it when on forever”, said Tracey

“This was all happening before I was an instructor myself. Our teacher was amazingly supportive. She helped us adapt activities and, most importantly, reassured me that this was normal – a lot of what I know now about dealing with the wobbles, I learned from her.

“We stopped doing any underwater work with Zach, and we also adapted activities to suit his mood on the day. Our teacher used to give Zach a toy to distract him – and she did this as soon as we got in the pool. It was her encouragement, her enthusiasm, and my belief in her that kept us going.”

“It did take Zach a long time to come out the other side of the wobbles – certainly longer than some of the others in the class. We were at the point where we wanted to try anything and everything that we could! So, we tried moving to a different class – one that was at a different time, with a different instructor. I used to come in some week, and my husband would do the next.”

“One week, out of nowhere, things started to improve. It was like somebody had just flicked a switch. Things got easier week-after-week after that and, before we knew it, it was like the water wobbles had never happened. Zach went back to his happy, smiley self in the water, and re-found his love of swimming. It was such a relief for me, and so lovely to see him enjoying it once more.”

“The following few months, Zach picked up things really quickly. While we were going through the wobbles, he’d clearly been taking things in because, once he found his confidence, he was doing all these things that we used to watch others doing as he clung to me. I can’t tell you how rewarding that was!”

My advice to others going through the wobbles

“Keep on going – it does get easier, and it doesn’t last forever! Speak to your teacher, or any member of the Nemo Swimming team, and work with them to support your child through this phase. They will come out of it and, before long, you’ll be reassuring other parents like I am now!”