When is it time to move to a bigger pool?

The unique Shapland Swim School teaching pool is one quarter ¼ the size of an Olympic pool, which means if you were to multiple the length and width of our teaching pool it would measure 50m long by 25m wide. It was not by accident the pool was designed this way. Back in 1973 when my father ‘Bernie’ opened the first boutique Shapland Swim School at 26 Hill Parade Clontarf, Red… read more

Floating and Balance

There are five basic steps in teaching someone how to swim and it is important that none of these steps are skipped however before a pupil can venture into some formal skill development they need to learn how to balance in the water. This may sound like a strange statement until you take into account how different being in the water is to being on the land. When a child/adult gets into a large bod… read more

Put away the phone and save a life

It is my considered opinion that mobile phones, tablets and even lap top computers are contributing to Aquatic Accidents resulting in death by drowning or near death by drowning. For the last decade I have been predicting the impact smart phones and technology will have on distracting parents from the strict visual supervision needed to prevent a drowning or near death by drowning. It seems like m… read more

Crawl Stroke

Did you know that Freestyle is really the name of a swimming race? In a Freestyle race you are able to, provided you let the referee or swim meet director know which stroke you are going to perform in the race, swim any stroke. FINA RULE:- SW 5.1 Freestyle means that in an event so designated the swimmer may swim any style, except that in individual medley or medley relay events, freestyle means… read more

Chris Shapland - English Channel Swim completed

On September the 19th 2016 Chris Shapland became the second oldest Australian and the fifth oldest all time to swim across the English Channel. Whilst doing the swim has been a life long dream Chris really did the swim to show that if you have a sound swimming technique swimming is something you can do all your life. Swimming is a very technical sport which is why Shapland Swim Schools try to ensu… read more

Video: Swimming lessons at Shapland Swim School Moorooka

Lucas Shapland is a fourth generation swimming teacher who runs the Moorooka location. Check out this great video he put together of some of the learn to swim students showing off their Personal Aquatic Survival Skills.… read more

Tips on preventing a near-death by drowning

According to the Royal Life Saving Society - Australia annual reportst for every one death by drowning, there are several near-deaths by drowning. Unfortunately, statistics on near-deaths by drowning are difficult to find. There seems to be little research done in this area. I did read in a Canadian report that there are six near-deaths by drowning for every one drowning. If I use this formula, … read more

Forgetting how to swim after a long break

At this time of the year our swim schools receive a lot of phone calls from concerned parents about their child forgetting how to swim. Here’s an example: “My daughter has forgotten how to swim. We went for a swim in our pool and she was scared of the water. She was OK at the end of last summer but is very clingy now.” After a break from swimming, children who are still in th… read more

Kids To Do reviews a Shapland swimming lesson

Recently, Karen Ghidella from KidsToDo.com.au visited one of our swim school locations and experienced a typical swimming lesson for her twin boys with Chris Shapland. She has written a review and posted it on the Kids To Do website so everyone can share in her experience. The blog post includes a fantastic video that Karen put together, so you can see a real lesson in action, and feel confident… read more

Why does my child not appear to be improving

The answer is your child has reached a plateau. One of the hardest principles of the learning to swim process for both parents and teachers to understand is the plateau phenomenon. Put quiet simply this means your child will appear to remain stationary (level out), in terms of their skill level development, during the learning process. Unlike skills learnt on the land, skills learnt in the water… read more