Swim to live!
Swim to Live is a small collaborative partnership formed as an Erasmus+ sport project. Our goals are oriented towards making a habit of regular swimming activities, gaining knowledge for swimming instructors, learning how to promote good practices, influencing local environment for club leaders and a Swim to live license for instructors. We want to spread the knowledge of teaching swimming and love towards swimming to previously non-active people by simply engaging them. Swim to Live was started in 2017 and is now running for a third year.
In the year 2019 we are focusing more on seniors (50+), who are already active in their daily life. Maybe they are expert gardeners, or they are learning foreign languages, maybe they are writing books or going to the mountains every weekend. The main goal is to spread the motivation for an active lifestyle from one senior European citizen to another. We want them to become ambassadors for an active lifestyle. We will keep participants active through telling their life stories and sharing their experiences. Each participant will prepare a short presentation or speech about how they are keeping an active lifestyle after retirement. They will share their feelings and experiences with remaining active. These stories will then be spread on internet and elsewhere.
Join us on our journey and become a part of the swimming community!
During the project we will host three open house days per partner to reach the people, who we maybe never could otherwise. The goal is to invite friends and family members of our swimmers in the project how a training looks like (dry land training, mindfulness and swimming practice) with the hope that they will want to enrol in something similar in the future. Already we were successful - one of the ladies who came applied, for a swimming course the day after our open house day.
WOOHOO!
The second Swili Night competition is behind us and we had a great evening! Thanks to all the swimmers, judges, trainers and supporting public who came and made this memorable event even better.
Check out the photo selection. To see more, go to our FB page.
Our second transnational project meeting is behind us, but it was the first time the swimmers from all three partner countries met and shared positive vibes and the love for an active lifestyle. We had a wonderful time in Cluj Napoca and our swimmers can't wait to see each other again in Italy in October. Check out some photos from the meeting.
Hey guys,
have you ever wondered who is the team behind the Swili projects? Search no further, check out this video.
Happy New Year everyone!
Last weekend we held the first transnational meeting in Slovenia, where we discussed how each one of us can contribute to the project and what our tasks will be. besides this we had a mindfulness workshop held by our mindfulness expert and sport psychologist, dr. Maja Smrdu.
Here are some photos to check out.
Be happy! :-)
Last Saturday a swimming festival was held in Ljubljana swimming pool Tivoli. It was organized by ŠD Riba and Kuponko. 100 children were invited to spend the Saturday afternoon with us. We are glad that the parents decided to bring their children for an hour long swimming event despite the cold December day. Everybody practiced elementary swimming skills and the older children were even introduced to real swimming techniques. The playful swimming teachers made sure that there was also enough play time during the festival so that the future swimmers could enjoy and have fun. Big smiles on the childrens faces is all the proof we needed to know that the day was a huge success. We believe that it was an uforgetable experience for the children as well.
Here are some pics for you to enjoy. :-)
As you can see in all the posted videos, there are many things we can do to teach kids and youngsters basic swimming skills, water safety and a love for all things aquatic. But the most important things is they enjoy and have fun!
Like Einstein said: "Having fun is the best way to learning."
Here are some captured moment of children from Romania and Slovenia having fun during the swimming lesson.
And here it is, the fourth and final step to basic swimming lessons. As the steps progress, they become more and more technical, so keep in mind that you have to follow the correct way of doing the exercises, because if the kids learn the moves incorrectly (for instance breaststroke kicks), it takes a long time to unlearn this behaviour and teach the correct way of doing things.
So here we are on the third step. Is it getting easier yet? By now you have probably noticed you have to repeat the same exercises many times before the child will do each exercise the way they are supposed to be done. Don't be afraid to make up your own similar exercises to practice the same thing and to keep praising your child whenever they succeed in anything they attempt. This is the last step before we can really start teaching swimming. But also remember, these exercises can always be switched in their order, some kids will learn hot to properly swim breaststroke kicks before they will fully submerge their head, so don't worry, they all get there in the end. :-)
So,
you have already tackled the dreaded submerging of the head under water and blowing bubbles. Congratulations! :-) Maybe there were some tears and resistance or maybe it went very smoothly. But this step is the most important one and without this loss of fear of water, it is very hard to start teaching the other things.
This is the second step. And always remember, just have fun!
Hey guys,
did you ever want to teach your kids swimming but had no clue where and how to start? Have no fear. 😉
We've prepared a practical guide for beginners.
Here is the first video. Enjoy and we wish you lots of fun with your kids!
Even though the project this year is slowly but surely coming to an end, we are not resting on our laurels yet. We are preparing something very special for parents and teachers - a guidebook for teaching swimming.
Coming soon!
Last week we had the pleasure of visiting the south of the italian boot. We did some mindful swimming, kayaking, we visited a local cave, ate some ice cream and tried fried pizza. Our youngsters did the final tests, to see if there was any change during the project - mental and/or physical. They all wish to continue with the lessons in the future and want to remain on our Swim to Live journey. We made a lot of new friends this year and we can't wait to make new ones in the new project in 2019.
Here are just some captured moments of our time in Italy. For more photos visit our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/SwimToLive.org/
ENJOY! :-)
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Are you an instructor in swimming or in a different sport? Have you ever had trouble motivating your athletes and wondered how to go about it better? Look no further. :-)
Check out this link by our sport psychologist dr. Tanja Kajtna.
Are you having trouble preparing good workouts for different abled people in your group of swimmers? Don't worry, check out this seminar by our expert in training disabled swimmers, Jana Čander, who can show you some tricks of the trade.
ENJOY! :-)
So, most of us have had to deal with teaching a flip turn to swimmers. Some people have no problems with this, some say it makes them sick, some don't even know how to do a turn on dry land, so you have to determine who is a good candidate for teaching this technique.This is a good exercise for the beginning steps in teaching a flip turn. It can be done in deep or shallow water.
Say goodbye to the sea and hello to the swimming pool.
🎉👑🐋🐟🐳🐠
🏊🏼🐬⭐️❤️
#swili#mindfulness#stayactive#swimming
After a long hot summer break, we received some wonderful news:
Swili 3: Masters edition has received co-founding by the Erasmus+ Sports team at EACEA European Commission and we could not be happier! :-)
This time we will combine swimming, dry land training and mindfulness lessons for active seniors, who will become active lifestyle ambassadors for the ageing population.
Hey guys,
before we disappear for a little while over the summer, we just want you to see some of the highlights of our trip to Romania. If you ever want to visit a historically rich country with an interesting and diverse cuisine and a beautiful countryside with some very impressive mountains, which is also very affordable, you owe it to yourself to visit the lovely Transylvania region in Romania.
Check out some photos from our trip.
Woohoo! :-)
Here it is!
ENJOY!
Here it is,
what you all have been waiting for! :-)
Some pics from last weekend, when we hosted a wonderful group of youngsters and their mentors from 3 different countries.
Hey guys,
we are extremely pleased to show you our new webinar.
The topic is Mindfulness and it was taken during the first transnational meeting in Slovenia, where the three partner countries met for the first time, to kick-off this year's project.
This will be especially helpful, if you want to learn some great examples on how to teach mindfulness to children and youngsters.
Enjoy!
Look no further.
Here are some examples of a hands on approach.
Check them out! :-)
This year, we are teaching underaged kids and youngsters, so the involvement of their parents is crucial for our success.
Here is the Slovenian meeting, captured on film.
After a month of being mindful, we finally started swimming with our youngsters.
Go Romania!
And we're off! :-)
The first thing on the menu was a weekend with our swimming instructors and youth workers with the plan to get to know each other or to improve our bond from last year, to learn about mindfulness and to make a plan for the whole year.
It was an extremely fun and productive weekend.
Here are some pics for you to enjoy. :-)
With the new year we start the new project with new swimmers and a new partner.
We are very excited!
Join us on our journey here on the web portal and keep posted for fresh updates.
So with the beginning of the new year our project is coming to an end.
We have succeded to deliver most if not all of our promises and managed to add certain developments we could not have imagined while we were writing the proposal for the project.
Right now we are in the process of writing the final report, but we have been also kickstarting the new project for 2018 - Swili 2.
This time we will be combining swimming lessons with mindfulness for underprivileged youngsters from 3 countries - Romania, Italy and Slovenia. We will also organise four transnational meetings in the three partner countries.
The first one is in less than one month and we can't wait!
All the best to all of you in the new year! :-)
We also asked our instructors about how their swimmers felt at the end of the project and what kind of changes they saw in themselves and in their swimming abilities. This is what they said.
We asked our swimming instructors about the change they saw in themselves since they joined the project. Here are some of their answers.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are extremely happy and proud to present the Swim to Live manual! :-)
It is a combination of our previous knowledge about teaching swimming, sport psychology, marketing, kinesiology, social inclusion and working with people with special needs combined with the knowledge we have gained during the past year that we have been doing this project.
We hope you will enjoy reading it as much we have enjoyed making it.
All the best from the Swili team! :-)
Yesterday ŠD Riba hosted the last official masters competition which also included the noncompetitive Cooper's test for friends and family of the competitors and all others, who do not want to compete in swimming but would like to know how well their physical fitness is.
As we are reaching the finish line on the project, we are checking up on how our swimmers are doing.
We tested the slovenian swimmers, who are all continuing to swim after the end of the project swimming lessons mind you, in a Cooper's endurance test (12 minutes of continuous swimming).
What is this?
Is it:
a) a yellow submarine,
b) a beer holder or
c) a pull buoy?
Check out some articles about teaching swimming, leadership and marketing we have gathered on the web portal.
Changing positions during kicks is a great way of making the swimmer adapt quickly to a right position in the water. This is also a great way to practice kicks without a board.
When teaching adults as well as kids, it is very important, to teach them how to properly exhale in the water, so they can last longer with their head submurged.
Here is a great way of teaching them how.
During the Swili seminar in Ljubljana, our swimming instructors had the task to teach foreign swimmers non verbally. And they did a great job.
Check it out here.
Proper kicks are very important in any swimming technique.
That's why instructors out a lot of emphasis on it when they teach swimming.
Check out how to do a torpedo kick in freestyle.
Here's what you can do.
Make them use a pull buoy between their legs during swimming just kicks or the full technique.
Like demonstrated in this link by our Italian instructor.
He is speaking in slovenian language, but there is a summary of what she's saying under the video.
click here to find out more
click hereThank you boys, you are doing an amazing job! :-)
Go for it Miguel! :-)
Click here for video.
Who was the winner? 
No problem! :-)
If you have some para swimmers in your group, you can find some great exercises on following link.
Try out this step by step guide. 
Woohoo!One of the slovenian participants in Swili, Urška, talks about her experience in the project.
She is speaking in slovenian language, but there is a summary of what she's saying under the video.
Thank you Urška, we are very glad you feel this way and thank you for sharing this experience with us!
Enjoy! :-)
I woke up on a very rainy Sunday and feared, no one would show up for our swimming test for swimmers, and their friends and families. Luckily I was wrong. :-)
Twenty people didn't care about the weather and joined us at the Kolezija swimming pool in Ljubljana for a test in swimming. One of the swimmers swam 2 kilometres and the rest did the Cooper's test (12 minutes of swimming).
They all did really well! Great job, guys! :-)
We will test their results again in the end of November, to see if they have improved their results, at our next swimming event.
After a long hot summer we are back with the latest updates.
Check out our webinars from the Swili event in June, soak up some interesting new info and most importantly ENJOY! :-)
Although the swimming activities have stopped over the summer break, we still have plenty to do.
We have carefully selected our objective evaluator of the Swim to Live licence tasks, who will be checking all the tasks after they will be completed and tell us if everyone on the project earned the licence or not.
We are already arranging for an open house day in the beginning of September to attract more swimmers for the next season to join us in Slovenia and will ask our partners to do the same.
And plenty more.
All the best from the Swili team! :-)
WOOHOOO!
Our journey continues in 2018 with this wonderful always evolving project.
Next year we will combine swimming with mindfulness and we can't wait!!! :-)
On Saturday Swim to live swimmers gathered from all over Europe to participate in Swim to live competition.
The event was a success! The swimmers did very well and their progress from the beginning of the program was immense. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to get to see swimmers with so much different abilities all come together as one in swimming.
You can read more about the event HERE.
We had a blast these past few days with our guests from Portugal, Romania, Italy and Slovenia.
We learned a lot about swimming, marketing, sport psychology, para swimming, communicating in english, Slovene cuisine and culture, Ljubljana and most importantly about ourselves.
Thanks everyone for sharing this experience with us.
Onwards and upwards! :-)
Check out some photos from the seminar and the competition.
Our Swim to Live! event in Ljubljana is less than a week away and we can't wait for the participants to come here.
Our instructors, swimmers and club leaders have been working hard and they will be able to reap the fruits of their labour of the past months.
The Swim to Live licence is available for the first time for swimming instructors to gain during the Swim to Live project!
In the life span of of the project we are educating carefully chosen instructors from four different EU countries with the goal to improve their teaching skills.
They are learning by doing - teaching swimming of previously inactive small groups of people and gaining new knowledge through a course of online tasks they have to do.
The skill sets they will receive in the course are: coaching, fascilitation (proposing and achieving goals), mentoring, teaching, technical mastery, transformation, social inclusion and sport psychology.
They are working hard and are doing a great job! Thanks Swili instructors, keep it up! :-)
In May we tested our swimmer via the Cooper's test. We wanted to check the swimming capabilities of the participants in the project.
In the past month, the ''swili'' people organized an open house day at the pool. The swimmer that participate in the SWILI project invited their friend and family to visit them in the swimming class.
We had double the fun with twice as many people as usual and organized fun swimming games to lighten up the mood and introduce swimming to a bigger audience :D
In less than 2 months we will host a first of many, hopefully, Swim to Live! swimming event.
Welcome all swimming enthusiasts! :-)
For more information visit us at the FB page of the event.
I found an interesting article, that explains freestyle stroke very nicely. Check it out!
Because strength is very important for swimmers, I searched the web in order to find the best exercises that will help you swim faster!
Flexibility and strength are both very important factors when it comes to swimming. Read the article I picked for you carefully and improve yourself in swimming.
Click HERE for the article!
The new instructional video is live on YouTube!
Check it out and learn how to swim breaststroke step by step! FOR EXTRA INFORMATION TURN ON SUBTITLES IN THE VIDEO!
Check out our selection of literature on teaching swimming and sport psychology here: https://swimtolive.org/resources/
If you are a swimming beginner or intermediate swimmer, you must have had some troubles with backstroke. Check out this step by step tutorial by our instructor Pia. And don't forget to turn on the subtitles for all the info.
All of our swimmers have begun with their swimming practice and as you can see from the photos, they are having a lot of fun as well as learning new skills every class. For instance flutter kick, breaststroke, exhaling…
And I bet you were wondering, why these people decided to start swimming? Because swimming is a complete sport and not very stresing, because they feel free while they swim, because they would like to enjoy being in the water without being afraid, to improve physical and mental skills, to learn the right way to swim.
And why were they previously inactive? Well, the most of our participants answered, that they didn’t have enough time, and the second most popular reason was, that they didn’t have someone to go with them and they didn’t want to go alone.
Why did they decide to join the project? To be physically fit and to challenge their abilities.
We are very happy to invite you to our swimming platform with which we would like to make a tool for swimmers, swimming instructors, swimming enthusiasts etc for sharing and gaining new and old information about swimming.
We would like to create a place where people can come with problems to find solutions and where people can add their own solutions in order to help others facing the same problems.
Right now we are at the beginning of our Erasmus+ sport project, so a lot is going on. A lot of trial and error, but that is the magic of creating something new I guess. We are selecting the swimming instructors for the project and the group of 5-8 swimmers per partnering country, so they can start swimming in the beginning of February. Our wish is to include previously inactive people in free swimming lessons twice a week. This will last for 6 months and after this time is over, the dream scenario is that at least some of them will decide to keep swimming and bring their friends and families to join them.