Swimming Lessons

This is a class for preschool children (ages 4-5) who are independent enough to participate in a swimming class without a parent but are not advanced enough for the large pool. Participants will learn how to be safe around water and begin working on floating, arm and leg movements, and confidence in the water where they can touch.

Participants will learn how to be safe around water, begin working on floating, arm and leg movements, and build confidence in the water where they can touch. The skills in this level are generally performed in water 2-4ft in depth, but may occasionally go into deeper water depending on the facility, weather conditions, and topics covered in the lesson.

Skill list:

• Using ramp or steps (if a pool has them)
• Using the side/slide in entry
• Using a ladder
• Jumping into water 3 ft or deeper (with assistance)
• Jumping into water 3 ft or deeper and submerging head (with assistance)

Water Exits:

• Using the ramp or steps (if the pool has them)
• Using the side/wall of the pool (student can pull themselves out of the pool without assistance)
• Using a ladder (without assistance)

Basic Aquatic Skills:

• Monkey crawling along the edge from shallow to deeper water
• Walking in shallow water from the edge to a designated point and back again
• Perform 10 bobs in shallow water submerging to at least the eyes
• Blow bubbles in the water for 5 seconds
• Submerge their head and retrieve a submerged object

Pre-Swimming Skills:

• Float with assistance on front and back for 3 to 5 seconds
• Change from front to back float with assistance while maintaining a horizontal position in the water
• Perform a front and back glide and recover to a standing position with limited assistance
• Perform arm and leg motions while in a vertical position (pre-treading water) with support
• Perform arm and leg movements in a horizontal position on the front and back (pre-swimming) with assistance, working toward alternating arm and leg movements.

Safety Lessons:

• Identifying drains and why they can be dangerous
• How to put on a lifejacket and tell if it fits properly
• What lifeguard's job is and where we find them
• Why we always look before jumping into water
• Staying safe around water by identifying water depth signs, lifeguard chairs, and knowing what an emergency is and what to do.

Level Exit Requirements:

• Enter the water independently and perform 10 bobs submerging the head to the eyes or further.
• Blow bubbles for at least 5 seconds
• Perform a front and back glide independently for 5 ft and recover to a standing position
• Perform alternating arm and leg movements for 10ft with assistance

Students will continue building confidence by learning the basic swimming kicks and arm strokes (whip and flutter kicks, and the front and back crawl) with support from floatation devices and the instructor. In level one, students progress to attempting skills introduced in pre-level in water 3-5 ft in depth.

Skill list:

Water Entries:

• Using ramp or steps (if a pool has them)
• Using the side/slide in entry
• Using a ladder
• Jumping into water 4 ft or deeper and submerging head (with assistance)

Water Exits:

• Using the ramp or steps (if the pool has them)
• Using the side (student can pull themselves out of the pool without assistance)
• Using a ladder (without assistance)

Basic Aquatic Skills:

• Monkey Crawling along the edge from shallow to deeper water
• Perform 10 bobs in shallow water submerging to at least the eyes while holding the edge or platform
• Blow bubbles in the water for 5 seconds
• Submerge their head and body to retrieve a submerged object

Pre-Swimming Skills:

• Float with assistance on front and back for 5-10 seconds with support
• Change from front to back float with assistance while maintaining a horizontal position in the water
• Perform the arm and leg motions for treading water with support
• Perform a front and back glide and recover to a vertical with limited assistance
• Perform basic front crawl arm motions
• Perform basic back crawl arm motions
• Perform a flutter kick with support
• Introduced to whip kick with support or while seated on the edge
• Perform front and back crawl arm motions with a flutter kick with assistance

Safety Lessons:

• Identifying drains and why they can be dangerous
• Learning how and when to wear a lifejacket and jump into deep water
• When and how to do a reaching assist from the edge
• Why we always look before jumping into water
• Staying safe around water by identifying water depth signs, lifeguard chairs, and knowing what an emergency is and how to get help.

Level Exit Requirements:

• Student can jump into deep water (water they are unable to touch in) independently, submerge, and grab the wall.
• Student can float on both the front and back for 10 seconds and perform a flip from front to back while maintaining a horizontal position.
• Student can swim using both the front and back crawl 15ft (platform to the wall) with support.

Students will focus on practicing the skill sets learned in level one and build the confidence to complete the skills without support from the instructor and/or floatation devices.

Skill list:

Water Entries:

• Using ramp or steps (if a pool has them)
• Using the side/slide in entry
• Using a ladder
• Jumping into water 4 ft or deeper and submerging head (without assistance)

Water Exits:

• Using the ramp or steps (if the pool has them)
• Using the side (student can pull themselves out of the pool without assistance)
• Using a ladder (without assistance)

Basic Aquatic Skills:

• Perform 20 bobs in shallow water submerging full head underwater
• Able to blow bubbles with rotary breathing movement with the head with support or at the wall
• Submerge their head and body to retrieve a submerged object

Pre-Swimming Skills:

• Float without assistance on front and back for 5-10 seconds
• Change from front to back float without assistance while maintaining horizontal position in water
• Perform the arm and leg motions for treading water without support
• Perform a front and back glide and recover to a vertical without assistance for 5 meters
• Perform basic front crawl arm motions
• Perform basic back crawl arm motions
• Perform a flutter kick without support for 5 meters
• Introduced to whip kick with support or while seated on the edge
• Perform front and back crawl arm motions with a flutter kick for at least 5 meters

Safety Lessons:

• Learning how and when to wear a lifejacket and jump into deep water
• When and how to do a reaching assist from the edge
• Why we always look before jumping into water
• Staying safe around water by identifying water depth signs, lifeguard chairs, and knowing what an emergency is and how to get help.

Level Exit Requirements:

• Student can jump into deep water (water they are unable to touch in) independently, submerge, and grab the wall.
• Students can perform rotary breathing technique with support
• Student can float on both the front and back for 10 seconds and perform a flip from front to back while maintaining a horizontal position without support.
• Student can swim using both the front and back crawl 5 meters (platform to the wall) without support.

Students will begin working on their swimming endurance along with more intermediate swimming skills such as the breaststroke and diving.

Skills List:

Entries

• Jump into deep water (5ft or greater) and recover to the wall.
• Perform a seated head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9ft of water or more and recover to the wall
• Perform a kneeling head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9ft of water or more and recover to the wall
• Perform a standing head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9ft of water or more and recover to the wall.

Aquatic Skills

• Perform proper rotary breathing with face fully in the water while performing the front crawl
• Utilize bob in water that is at or just above the head to move to safety
• Perform a survival float for 30 seconds or more in deep water
• Perform a back float for 45 to 60 seconds
• Perform a front float for 45 to 60 seconds
• Tread water for 45 to 60 seconds
• Move from a treading water position into a vertical swimming position
• Push off of the wall on the front and demonstrate a proper streamline position
• Push off of the wall on the back and demonstrate a proper streamline position
• Move from a streamline position into a front and/or back crawl

Swimming Skills

• Swim front crawl for 20 meters with strong flutter kick
• Swim back crawl for 20 meters with strong flutter kick
• Perform the elementary backstroke 7 to 10 meters with strong whip kick
• Perform The breaststroke for 7 to 10 meters with strong whip kick

Safety Lessons

• Dangers of cold water, how to stay safe on lakes and rivers
• Set your sights before you leap from a height
• Why holding our breath for too long can be dangerous

Level Exit Requirements

• Jump into deep water recover and swim front crawl for 20 to 25 meters
• Jump into deep water recover and swim back crawl for 20 to 25 meters
• Push off from wall in streamline position and perform 15 meters of elementary backstroke
• Push off from wall in streamline position swim 10 meters tread water for 10 seconds and swim backstroke 10 meters.
• Perform head first entries from seated and kneeling positions.

Students will continue developing their swimming endurance and begin working on more advanced swimming strokes, such as the side stroke and butterfly. Basic life saving practices, such as a reach-throw technique, will be introduced that focus specifically on staying safe around pools, lakes, and rivers.

Skills List:

Water Entries

• Jump into deep water from the edge (10 ft or greater) and recover to the wall.
• Jump into deep water from a height (diving board or diving blocks) and recover to the wall.
• Perform a seated head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9 ft of water or more and recover to the wall
• Perform a kneeling head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9 ft of water or more and recover to the wall
• Perform a standing head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9 ft of water or more and recover to the wall.

Aquatic Skills

• Feet first surface dives in deep water submerging at least 3 to 5 feet to retrieve an object
• Treading water using flutter, whip, and rotary kicks
• Introduction of the survival swim and able to perform it for up to 1 minute
• Control breath to swim underwater for 5 to 10 ft.

Swimming Skills

• Demonstrate whip kick, flutter kick, scissor kick, and dolphin kick with kickboard or aquatic barbell.
• Perform the front crawl/back crawl/elementary backstroke for 25 meters (or 1 pool length) without stopping
• Demonstrate the breaststroke for 15 meters
• Demonstrate side stroke for 15 meters
• Perform an open turn during front and back crawl

Safety Lessons

• Throwing Assists from the edge of the pool
• What to do if you get into trouble in water
• How water can make us sick

Exit Skills

• Perform front crawl for 50 meters with open turns
• Perform back crawl for 50 meters with open turns
• Perform elementary backstroke for 25 meters
• Perform breaststroke for 25 meters
• Perform sidestroke for 25 meters
• Perform standing head first entry from edge of pool

Students will continue to work on their basic, intermediate, and advanced swimming strokes, focusing on endurance, refinement, and mastery. Various forms of diving, such as suface dives and diving from the starting blocks, will be introduced.

Skills List:

Water Entries

• Jump into deep water from the edge (10 ft or greater) and begin swimming for 25 meters
• Jump into deep water from a height (diving board or diving blocks) recover and swim for 25 meters
• Perform a standing head first entry from the edge of the pool in 9 ft of water or more and swim 25 meters.
• Perform head first entry from a height (diving blocks or diving board) and swim for 25 meters

Aquatic Skills

• Head first surface dives in deep water submerging at least 5 to 7 feet to retrieve an object
• Treading water using flutter, whip, and rotary kicks for 2 minutes
• Survival swim for 1 minute
• Control breath to swim underwater for 5 to 10 ft.

Swimming Skills

• Demonstrate whip kick, flutter kick, scissor kick, and dolphin kick with kickboard or aquatic barbell.
• Perform the front crawl/back crawl/elementary backstroke for 100 meters (or 1 pool length) without stopping
• Demonstrate the breaststroke for 50 meters
• Demonstrate side stroke for 50 meters
• Demonstrate butterfly for 25 meters.
• Perform an open turn during front and back crawl
• Perform flip turn during front crawl

Safety Lessons

• Throwing Assists from the edge of the pool
• What to do if you get into trouble in water
• Spotting trouble before it happens: boating and lake safety

Exit Skills

• Perform front crawl for 100 meters with open turns
• Perform back crawl for 100 meters with open turns
• Perform elementary backstroke for 50 meters
• Perform breaststroke for 50 meters
• Perform sidestroke for 50 meters
• Perform standing head first entry from edge of pool and swim 25 meters

Students will continue to develop their swimming endurance and begin learning intermediate life-saving skills. Pre-lifeguarding skills will be taught in order to prepare students to be good babysitters/nannies and/or future lifeguards. This level will be a benefit to any student who spends time around water during the summer months and will ensure students are prepared to pass the water skills requirements for lifeguarding certifications.

Skills:

Water Entries:

• Compact jump from height into water 5ft or greater
• Stride jump from deck without submerging the head into water 5ft or greater
• Compact jump from height with flotation device (noodle and/or rescue tube)
• Stride jump from deck with flotation device (noodle and/or rescue tube)

Aquatic Skills

• Feet first surface dive to 5ft and retrieve an object from the bottom of the pool
• Head first surface dive to 5ft and retrieve an object from the bottom of the pool
• Tread water for 5 minutes using arms
• Tread water for 3 minutes without using arms (legs only)
• Demonstrate breath control to surface dive to 12 to 13 ft, push off bottom and resurface

Swimming Skills

• Front crawl for 300 meters without stopping
• Breaststroke for 300 meters without stopping
• Back crawl for 25 meters while holding 10lbs brick on tummy
• Sidestroke for 25 meters
• Survival swim for 2 minutes

Pre-Lifeguarding/ Safety Skills

• Intro to first aid
• Signs of choking
• Signs of heart attack
• Signs of stroke
• Signs of seizure
• Recovery position
• Effective scanning of open water and pools
• Reaching and throwing assists
• Safety Escapes
• Recognition of active and passive drowning victims
• How to use shepard hook and flotation ring
• When to get help
• Best practices for preventing water injury

Exit Skills

• Front crawl 300 meters
• Breaststroke 300 meters
• Back crawl 25 meters with brick
• Tread water 3 minutes legs only
• Reaching and throwing assists
• Compact and stride jump entries without floatation

1. You may register for ONE session of swimming lessons.

2. To sign up for an additional session, you must wait until the session that you are currently in has ended, allowing you to register for the next appropriate level. This will also allow others the opportunity to register and participate in at least one session. We will not issue refunds to people that sign up for the wrong levels and want to switch.

3. See lesson availability.