Best Practices for Learning to Swim!

Adam Jerzykowski is a well-known figure in Łódź’s swimming world. A social activist, entrepreneur, and long-distance swimmer, he founded the moviGO Swimming School in 2017, where people can build a friendship with water—and this will soon be recorded in a book!

Swimming Lessons for Children or Adults?

You run a swimming school for both adults and children... Who is more enjoyable to work with and why?

Every coach has their own personal preferences. Some prefer working with children, while I personally focus on training adults. The differences in how these sessions are conducted are significant. What fascinates me about working with adults is that they know what they want from the lessons, they stay focused, listen, and there’s no issue with following instructions. However, the challenge is that many of them have developed fears over the years, and their bodies, due to stress and aging, tend to become more rigid.

Swimming Lessons for Children

Children often make progress much faster than adults, which can be incredibly motivating for a coach. However, working with children also comes with its own set of challenges. One of them is presenting exercises and the entire learning process in a way that keeps them engaged and interested.

The common denominator in working with both adults and children is that, besides being a good coach and developing effective training methods, you also need to have a bit of a psychologist in you—someone who can help students overcome their fears.

That’s why, in my daily work, I strive to be both an effective coach and an empathetic psychologist.

A Progress-Tracking Booklet to Support Children's Swimming Development

To spark children’s passion for swimming, you have created a "Swimming Achievement Booklet" at your school. How does it work?

Adults often understand that learning to swim is a gradual process that takes time. However, we realized that for children, maintaining motivation and engagement requires a different approach. That’s why we wanted to show them how quickly they are progressing.

To do this, we broke down swimming skills into individual elements and transformed them into specific swimming challenges. We then presented them in the form of an engaging booklet, so children no longer associate learning with something dry and rigid but rather with fun and exciting challenges.

Learning becomes something enjoyable, and we see smiles on their faces when we say things like, "You’ve now earned big excellence stars for completing this challenge!" I believe that visualizing progress is crucial and brings a lot of joy.

Additionally, besides awarding stars for completing challenges, we also reward consistency—attending lessons regularly—because, ultimately, consistency is one of the keys to building a strong and lasting connection with water.

Swimming Offers Everything That Children and Adults Need

Swimming is not just about health—it’s also an adventure, an opportunity to make new friends… If you had to encourage a child to engage in water activities, what arguments would you use?

I deeply believe that in the water, everyone can find exactly what they are looking for. Whether it’s personal time, an escape from daily worries, a sports challenge, a way to release excess energy and improve mood, or even companionship, love, focus, or relief from the overwhelming stimuli of everyday life—it’s all there in the water. Water holds what we need and what we seek.

Interview by: Maciej Mazerant / Editor-in-Chief of AQUA SPEED Magazine

Photos: Adam Jerzykowski | moviGO Swimming School