For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been noticing my seven year old at her swim practice. I’ve been noticing it’s taking her a little longer than it used to, to get from one end of the pool to the other.

I’ve noticed she appears to be struggling both physically and mentally to complete a single length.

I’ve noticed her technique is baffling and if she were anyone’s kid other than mine, I would wonder if they had swallowed too much water, been recently hypnotized or acting out Gangnam Style under water.

It has been difficult to watch this rather bizarre regression.

I mentioned to Greg that she was doing something different in the pool and wondered if he saw it too.

The email I got from him when he took her to her next practice read, “Oh my God! What is Ellie doing?!”

Okay, so we’re on the same page. Now what?

As someone learning to swim (the second time around) myself, I am in no position to help correct this new “Ellie-stroke” (emphasis on possible stroke) but how do we help her?

At one point during the practice, Greg said he watched Ellie take three strokes then do a summersault under the water and repeat this pattern for a full length of the pool. On closer inspection, he realized all of the kids were following suit but Greg thought Ellie had gone right off the deep end.

Greg spoke to the coach after the session and was told they have seen this before, “Ellie has forgotten how to swim.”

?

She’s trying to process too much and none of it is coming together smoothly. It’s as though she’s developed a stammer, manifested physically through strange body movements rather than verbally. I also have to assign partial blame to Gangnam Style because really.

The good news is, they’ve assured us we shouldn’t worry, that they will work with her, break down the various stages and start from the beginning until it all comes flooding back to her.

The bad news is I know what they’re saying behind closed doors, “She swims like her mother.”