I goto the pool 5 days a week with my daughter who just turned 3 and can already swim better than most kids who are 5. It wasn’t an accident - we put in a lot effort to have fun and work on skills. She’s never once been in swimmies and there’s no “shallow” area in our pool except the stairs. Most parents look at us sideways for not using swimmies but I’m willing to put in the effort to play her and supervise her 100% of the time