Swimming Lessons

Level One (1) - Introduction to Water Skills

• Purpose - Helps students feel comfortable in the water. Level 1 participants learn to do the following:

• Enter and exit water safely

• Submerge mouth, nose and eyes

• Exhale underwater through mouth and nose

• Open eyes underwater, pickup submerged object

• Change direction while walking or paddling

• Roll over from front to back and back to front with support

• Explore floating on front and back with support

• Explore swimming on front and back using arm and leg actions with support

Level Two (2) - Fundamental Aquatic Skills

• Purpose - Gives students success with fundamental skills. Level two (2) participants learn to do the following:

• Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side

• Exit water safely using ladder or side

• Submerge entire head

• Blow bubbles submerging head in a rhythmic pattern (bobbing)

• Open eyes under water, pick up a submerged object in shallow water

• Float on front and back

• Perform front and back glide

• Change direction of travel padding on front or back

• Roll over from front to back, back to front

• Tread water using arm and leg motions (chest-deep water)

• Swim on front, back and side using combined arm and leg actions

Level Three (3) - Stroke Development

• Purpose - Builds on the skills in Level Two (2) through additional guided practice. Level Three (3) participants learn to do the following:

• Jump into deep water from the side

• Dive from kneeling or standing position

• Perform front and back glide using two different kicks

• Float on front and back in deep water

• Change from horizontal to vertical position on front and back

• Tread water using hand and leg movements

• Perform front and back crawl

• Butterfly-kick and body motion

• Perform the HELP and Huddle position

Level Four (4) - Stroke Improvement

• Purpose - Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills. Level Four (4) participants learn to:

• Perform a dive from a standing or stride position

• Swim underwater

• Perform feet-first surface dive

• Perform open turns on front and back

• Tread water using sculling arm motions and with different kicks

• Perform the following - Front/back crawl, breaststroke, butterfly, elementary backstroke, swim on side using scissor-like kick

Level Five (5) - Stroke Refinement

• Purpose - Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes. Level Five (5) participants learn to perform the following:

• Standing dive

• Shallow dive, glide two body lengths and begin any front stroke

• Tuck surface dive

• Front flip dive

• Front flip turn

• Backstroke flip turn

• Front and back crawl

• Butterfly

• Breaststroke

• Elementary backstroke

• Sidestroke

• Tread water with two different kicks

• Learn survival swimming

Level Six (6) - Swimming and Skill Proficiency

• Purpose - Refines the strokes so students swim them with ease, efficiency, power, and smoothness over greater distances. Level Six (6) is designed with "menu" options that each focus on preparing students to participate in more advanced course, including the Water Safety Instructor and Lifeguard Training Courses. These options include:

• Personal Water Safety

• Fundamentals of Diving

• Lifeguard Readiness

• Fitness Swimmer