Doting mom teaches 15-week-old daughter to swim – now she can swim 5 metres alone

A mother taught her 15-week-old baby to swim – and now she can swim five metres completely alone!

As a swimming instructor Alice Stroyan (25) always felt kids should acquire the key skill of swimming as early as possible.

But, even she was surprised when her baby Isla became a natural at just over two months old.

Alice from Northumberland, England, started her child’s swimming lessons as soon as she’d received her relevant injections at 12 weeks old.

Those lessons mainly consisted of getting Isla to become “confident” in the water.

But, much to her mother's surprise, Isla was a natural immediately and could even “swim” underwater at just 15-weeks-old.

At age three now, Isla can swim five metres without the help of her mother or armbands and continues to improve her personal best with every swim.

"At just a few days old I’d pour water over her head and not avoid her face so that she would be used to the water from a young age,” Alice explained.

"Then when she was just 12 weeks I took her for her first swimming lesson and immersed her fully under the water.

"Since then she's been a natural in the water, she was a total water baby and would come up smiling after going under water.”

Alice says she’s passionate about children swimming from a very young age as it helps to minimise their fear of water.

“It's a skill that lasts a lifetime and could subsequently save her life."

Despite starting out slowly in lessons, Isla quickly picked up and could swim by herself when she was a year old.

"At first her lessons consisted of getting used to the water and occasionally going underneath. By the time she was six months old she was able to float in the pool unaided.

"At around nine months old she’d hold onto my back while I swam underwater and learnt how to fully hold her breath.

"Slowly she began to kick and eventually she didn't need to hold onto my back anymore – I’d just tell her to kick and she'd start kicking along, even though it took a bit of training for her to do it correctly.”

Although her daughter started swimming at such a young age, Alice explained that she was never scared of Isla being in any danger. In fact was excited to get her in the pool weekly.

"When I watch Isla swimming the pride I feel is amazing.

"I often get people come up to me and ask how old she is and tell me how great it is that she can swim so confidently.”