Surfing Waves

i just recently learned to surf and now my 12 year old brother wants to learn as well, i would take him out but i dont really know how good of a swimmer he should be before i do. how far and how long should he be able to swim before i sign him up for surf lessons?

most companies want people over the age of 7, and able to swim 50m in open water, this isn't always the case, but he doesnt have to go out far, my 5 year old cousin comes in the sea with me and tries it out in the white water in the summer

yea open water swimming distance is what you should base it on. Swimming in a pool is totally different

i can just about swim 10m in a pool but i still surf

If he can float & swim a bit get him out, nothing to demanding tho.

is it important that he is able to tread water? and if so for how long?

ebby1208 wrote:is it important that he is able to tread water? and if so for how long?

The swimming requirements are based on the possiblity of him loosing his board, and having to get in on his own. So I would think treading water would be an asset, though not really a requirement. If he can swim about 100m in a pool non stop, I would say he should be good. Open water swimming(especially if he is caught in the impact zone), is ALOT different then a lane pool.

Yup, make sure he knows how to swim fairly well. If not, he may panic in the water. Leashes have been known to snap, come apart at the joints. You can't rely on your leash to keep your flotation device near you. I don't think he'll be heading out in overhead surf or such anytime soon, but even smaller surf can be treacherous. MAKE SURE HE IS A DECENT SWIMMER, or that he surfs in GUARDED areas.

Make sure he doesnt get a board in the face too.

Im a competitive swimmer at my high school but open water with waves is totally different, at first i learned on a huge board in white water(probably what a small kid should learn on and in) but if its white water, waves are probably not gonna be an issue of falling on the board and comin up to another wave in the face. like the last reply the most you gotta worry about probably is a board to the face. plus white water is ussually pretty shallow

i think if he has a foamie to start he should be ok, just keep an eye on him, he should be able to take a bit of a board to the face, but keep an eye out just incase, about the white water, its usually harder for a littler person to stand up on because there so light and can get thrown around easily, would be better if you (or someone else) could push him into the smaller waves untill he gets the pop-up sorted and then he should do it on his own