My daughter was very anxious about learning to swim and we didn't get anywhere with swim lessons. The only thing that worked was talking through her fears and going to the pool every day to let her gradually build up confidence. I helped her. We don't have a pool, so it was an effort. Once she started to feel more confident and could swim across the pool, she was able to take swim lessons. It took about 2 months of going almost every day and patiently encouraging her.