Kieran’s Swimming journey living with Autism and a heart condition

The Story from his mum

In 2016 Kieran was not keen in being in the water and when I attempted to take him swimming he would just cry and cling onto me.

I decided when he was 5 that he would be better to have lessons to help build his confidence being in water this is when I found Hannah at Ready Steady Splash. 

In October 2016 Kieran had his first lesson at the Oasis Sports Club, he was extremely nervous and would not go anywhere near the water without his swim vest on. Hannah was brilliant with him she sat him on the side of the pool and got him used to having his feet in the water and being with her in this new environment, Hannah then managed to get him into the swimming pool where he clung onto her but soon settled and started playing with toys, by the end of the 30 minute session Hannah had persuaded Kieran to take his swim vest off and be in the water without it. 

Kieran continued to progress in confidence while swimming at Oasis with Hannah until the centre sadly closed, however Hannah sourced alternative pools and we continued swimming at a different swimming pool before then moving to Sprowston Community Academy.

Kieran was such a nervous swimmer and would easily say he didn’t want to do it but Hannah knew exactly how push him and progress him, this then lead onto him receiving his first award in May 2017 where he gained his stage 1 and he was so pleased with himself. By this time Kieran had also learnt a lot about water safety as Hannah runs rescue weeks where swimmers wear their pjs in the pool so they get used to extra weight, they learn about self rescue and the rescue of others without putting themselves in danger.

 In November 2017 Kieran gained his second award which was an “I Can enter the water safely award” his hard work and determination started to show and he then went on to receive a puffin award which shows that he could swim 5 metres by himself using flotation equipment, all the awards and encouragement from Hannah was really helping build up his confidence and it was nice to see him being happy in the water. 

Over the Easter Holidays in 2018 Hannah put on a week swimming course which Kieran attended each day and this really helped to give him a much needed boost with his confidence.

In June 2018 Kieran started to gain his Duckling Awards and he is now very close to swimming unaided and he just had to put mind over matter and believe more in himself, again with Hannah’s support Kieran continued to make that improvement with his swimming. In November 2018 Kieran gained his Duckling award 2 and 3 and he was now swimming a length of the swimming pool with ease and his technique had improved and his confidence has grown.

 Kieran continued to work so hard with his swimming that he was moved up to a new group with Paige where he enjoyed swimming in the deeper end and practicing his swimming techniques. 

March 2019 came round and Kieran gained his stage 2, this was all down to Kierans hard work and the support of Paige. Kieran’s confidence had improved so much that he was now giving everything a go even when he was unsure of doing something and in turn saw him swimming multiple widths of the pool. 

In July 2019 Kieran had been working extremely hard towards his Stage 3 badge and had found it very challenging but with him working hard and with his swimming teachers support he was able to complete everything needed to gain his Stage 3. Kieran had been so dedicated to his swimming and has made amazing progress at this point even with the struggles and challenges he faced, by this point he has now been practising all four strokes, he found  practicing his dolphin wiggle and breast stroke quite challenging but his determination was helping him get better.  

Kieran was now working towards his level 4 which he is working very hard on and has become much stronger and determined, Kieran has now gained more Coordination on his back and starting to side breath, even though Kieran didn’t manage to complete his stage 4 this term he did manage to swim 15 metres without putting his feet down which was lovely to see him do this and he was so happy to gain his 15 metre swimming badge and certificate.

Covid then hit and swimming had to be put on hold, when swimming returned nothing would stop Kieran he got back into swimming gaining his stage 4  in June 2021 and his water skills in Nov 21. 

While Kieran was working towards his level 5 he managed to gain lots of other badges, water skills 2 in April 22, 25 metres in July 22. In July 2022 Kieran had some time off swimming while he recovered from his open heart operation but was determined to get back into swimming in the September where he started the term later and went on to gain his water skills 3 in nov 22, 100 metres in March 23, 200 metres in June 23, with Hannah’s support nothing would defeat Kieran and he finally gained his stage 5 in Nov 23. 

Kieran then continued to work so hard and this saw him gain his stage 6 and 400 metres in feb 2024, he was very proud of himself as he does not find exercise easy due to his heart but pushed himself really hard to complete the distance. 

While working towards stage 7 Kieran gained an achievement award for being really keen to learn and trying his best. He gained his water skills in Nov 24.

 March 2025 saw Kieran gain his stage 7, he was so proud of himself as was his teachers too as this has not been an easy journey for Kieran to get this this stage due to his heart and having Autism, but he has always given his swimming his best. 

Going Back a bit on the the 8th June 2024 Kieran started a new swimming journey alongside his usual swimming lessons and this was Rookie Lifeguarding Course, He quickly gained his Bonze stage 1 and 2, this course is giving him the skills in helping to save someone’s life and possibly his own and one day has visions to becoming a lifeguard.

Kieran is looking forward to continuing his swim journey with Ready Steady Splash by continuing his Rookie Lifeguarding and becoming a helper by supporting other swimmers in their learn to swim programme.