‘Counting On’: Jinger Duggar Reveals She Never Learned to Swim as She Enrolls Daughter Felicity in Swim Lessons
Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo want to make sure their daughter stays safe in the water. Soon after moving to California, the couple signed 1-year-old Felicity up for swimming lessons, as they shared in the July 21 episode of Counting On.
“We thought it would be wise to have Felicity swimming pretty soon given all the pools in California,” Jinger explained. “We have lots of friends who have pools and so we just think it would be safe for her to learn how to swim.”
Jinger Duggar never learned to swim
Jinger had another reason for wanting her daughter to get comfortable in the water. The mom of one confessed that she was never taught how to swim as a child and was now having to learn as an adult.
As Jeremy and Jinger drove to the pool for Felicity’s first swim lesson, he asked her how often her family would go swimming when she was a kid.
“Not very often,” Jinger replied. “My younger siblings go swimming all the time. Growing up, we just didn’t [swim] all that much.”
“A few of my siblings and I did not really learn how to swim,” Jinger later explained to a producer. “And I was in that middle section of kids.”
Though Jinger didn’t spend much time in the pool as a kid, she’s making up for that now. “I have a friend that’s been teaching me how to swim,” Jinger shared.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar forgot to teach some of their kids to swim
Jinger’s parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar admitted that some of the Duggar kids missed out on swimming lessons in their youth.
“Our oldest set of kids, they learned how to swim. They took swimming lessons,” Jim Bob said. “And then the younger kids have all got a lot of time swimming at a house that we owned for a while that had a swimming pool in the back yard.”
But a few of the middle kids didn’t get the chance to spend much time splashing in the pool, the parents of 19 explained. “There’s a few of them that probably don’t feel really comfortable getting in the water,” Michelle said.
A couple of Jinger’s siblings confirmed they weren’t exactly expert swimmers.
“I’m a terrible swimmer,” Jinger’s older sister Jessa Duggar admitted. “I look like I’m in survival mode.”
Younger sister Joy-Anna Duggar also admitted she “can’t swim.”
Joseph Duggar’s wife Kendra confirmed that she could swim, but she wasn’t confident in her in-law’s abilities in the water. “Duggars are not known for swimming,” she said.
Jill Duggar is also spending time in the water
Jinger isn’t the only member of the Duggar family getting comfortable in the water. Her older sister Jill recently modeled some modest swimwear in a sponsored post on Instagram.
“Are you spending a lot of extra time in the water this year? Pools might not be open yet, but we are enjoying lots of quality family time in the backyard with water play,” the mom of two shared.
Last year, Jill shared photos of her two boys swimming with their dad, Derick Dillard. At the time, fans wondered why she didn’t get in the water with them and speculated that it might have something to do with not wanting to wear a revealing swimsuit.
In the past, the Duggars have been spotted wearing loose-fitting swimwear that covers the body from the neck to knees. That’s because of a desire to remain modest.
“We typically don’t go to the beach in the summertime,” Michelle shared. “And in general we don’t do a lot of swimming events where swimming suits are worn because it’s just too hard for the guys to try to keep their eyes averted in those situations.”
Jill — whose already abandoned some of the Duggar family’s strictest dress code rules — seems to have loosened up a bit when it comes to swimwear. Perhaps Jinger, now that she’s learning to swim, won’t be far behind.
