Babies Swimming

Here at Zambezi, we think it's a good idea to introduce your baby to swimming early. This means your child will be a prepared, confident swimmer later in life. Swimming is a natural, easy experience for babies, and Zambezi Sports School will help them have fun whilst achieving huge milestones!

At Zambezi, you can start swimming classes with your baby from as young as 3 months. Babies love being in the water and our swimming activities ensure your baby will benefit from a young age.

Zambezi classes, based at Royal Park Primary Academy, Bexley in Kent, keep babies and their parents together throughout the swimming process to help ensure your children fall in love with the water.

Your baby will progress through the classes depending on age and development in the water, and your Zambezi teacher will tell you when they’re ready to progress to the next stage.

Our classes are grouped-

3- 9 months

10 - 18 months

19 month + classes

Children 3 - 4 years old will be in our Duckling classes

Parent and Child classes are 30 minutes and run Monday - Thursday mornings and Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Limited sessions also run on a Saturday and Sunday morning.

The Zambezi Swimming Journey

Click the swimming groups below to find out more about each swimming group.

Discovery Duckling 1
Discovery Duckling 2
Discovery Duckling 3
Discovery Duckling 4

At the end of Discovery Duckling children will be confident enough to attend lessons without adult assistance.

Children must be 3 years old before moving into Ducklings.

Stage 3
Stage 4

10m distance award

Swim 10 metres on front and back confidently, using overarm recovery and bilateral breathing.

Introduction to Breast stroke

Experience Deep water by moving into crocodile!

Stage 9

Bronze Challenge
Silver Challenge
400, 600, 800, 1000m – combining of three different strokes during distances greater than 400m.
Introduction to Brea stroke, backstroke and butterfly turns!

Must show a good understanding and knowledge of both turns on all strokes before moving into Shark, minimum 50m!

Duckling 3
Duckling 4

This is the first stage of your child’s journey they complete without an adult. Children will start to progress and have lots of FUN building vital skills to prepare them for the rest of their journey.

Stage 5
Stage 6

15,20,25 metres on front and back

Introduction to butterfly

Introduction to diving before moving into fish!

All swimmers must be able to swim 25m on at least 3 strokes before moving into fish!

Stage 10

Gold Challenge
Honours Challenge
1500, 2000, 3000 and 4000m distance awards

The final stage before moving onto club swimming!

Swimmers by the time they reach this stage will be competent and ready to become part of a club and start to participate in competitive swimming.

Stage 1
Stage 2

5m distance award

After being able to kick 5 metres on front and back without aids a swimmer can move into baby hippo!

Stage 7
Stage 8

Introduction to tumble turns and diving.

Must have a good understanding of diving and turns before moving into Dolphin.