Swimming Lessons

Preschool
• For children 3-4 years of age with little or no prior experience.
• Develop repetitive movements and water exploration skills necessary to swim.

Level I: Water Exploration
• Purpose: Orient to aquatic environment; create a sound foundation for aquatic and safety skills.
• Understand the basic water safety rules
• Know the fundamentals of using a life jacket
• Know how to handle a cramp
• Know how to get help
• Perform reaching assists without equipment
• Enter and exit water independently
• Fully submerge face for 3 seconds
• Blow bubbles
• Bounce in chest-deep water (bob) to chin level 10 times
• Walk 5 yards in chest-deep water, maintaining balance
• Float, while supported, on front & back
• Kick, while supported, on front & back
• Practice basic alternating arm action

Level II: Primary Skills
• Purpose: Expand on fundamental aquatic locomotion and safety skills.
• Perform reaching & extension assist from deck
• Assist nonswimmer to feet
• Be familiar with rescue breathing
• Move from standing to horizontal position
• Hold breath and fully submerge head for 3 seconds
• Float or glide on front, unsupported, for 5 seconds
• Float or glide on back, unsupported, for 5 seconds
• Submerge to retrieve object in chest-deep water
• Explore deep water, with floatation support
• Enter pool into chest-deep water and stand
• Perform flutter kick on front & back (support optional)
• Turn over from front to back and back to front
• Float on back while finning with hands
• Practice back crawl arm action
• Perform combined (kick & arms) stroke front, 5 yards
• Perform combined (kick & arms) stroke back, 5 yards)

Level III: Stroke Readiness
• Purpose: Increase swimming skill competency; practice safety and non-swimming rescue skills.
• Understand safe diving rules
• Bob in water slightly over head to travel to safe area
• Jump into deep water with life jacket on
• Jump into deep water from side of pool
• Demonstrate the Heat Escape Lessening Posture for 1 minute
• Perform "huddle" position with other participants for 1 minute
• Know how to open airway for rescue breathing
• Retrieve an object from the bottom in chest-deep water
• Perform 15 bobs in chest-deep water
• Do back crawl, 10 yards
• Do elementary backstroke kick, 10 yards
• Dive from the side of pool from kneeling and compact positions
• Tread water
• Reverse direction while swimming on back
• Coordinate arm stroke for front crawl while breathing to the front or side, 10 yards
• Perform front glide with push-off, 2 body lengths
• Perform back glide with push-off, 2 body lengths
• Reverse direction while swimming on front

Level IV: Stroke Development
• Purpose: Develop confidence and competency in strokes and safety skills beyond preceding levels; introduce breaststroke and sidestroke.
• Become familiar with CPR
• Demonstrate Rescue Breathing (without mouth-to-mouth contact)
• Perform rotary breathing
• Practice deep water bobbing
• Experiment with buoyancy and floating position
• Demonstrate diving from pool side, from both stride and standing positions
• Practice treading water with a modified scissors, modified breaststroke and/or rotary kicks (2 minutes)
• Demonstrate turning at the wall
• Perform the following:
• Front crawl, 25 yards with rotary breathing
• Back crawl, 25 yards
• Elementary backstroke, 10 yards
• Scissor kick, 10 yards
• Sculling on back 5 yards or 15 seconds
• Breaststroke kick, 10 yards

Level V: Stroke Refinement
• Purpose: Continue stroke refinement; introduce butterfly, surface dives and springboard diving.
• Understand rules for safe diving from board
• Know how to recognize spinal injury
• Know hip/shoulder support for spinal injury
• Continue refinement of front crawl, back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke and sidestroke
• Demonstrate alternate breathing
• Swim under water 3 body lengths
• Tread water 2 minutes with 2 different kicks
• Perform the following:
• Feet-first surface dive
• Breaststroke, 10 yards
• Sidestroke, 10 yards
• Elementary backstroke, 25 yards
• Dolphin kick, 10 yards
• Front crawl, 50 yards
• Back crawl, 50 yards
• Stride jump entry
• Open turn on front and back

Level VI: Stroke Proficiency
• Purpose: Develop maximum efficiency and endurance for strokes; introduce flip turns.
• Demonstrate throwing assists
• Know how to roll a spinal injury victim face up
• Perform turns:
• Speed turn and pull-out for breaststroke
• Sidestroke turn
• Breaststroke turn
• Flip turn for front crawl
• Tread water for 3 minutes, 1 minute without hands, 2 minutes with hands
• Perform the following:
• Front & back crawls, 100 yards each, with turns
• Breaststroke & sidestroke, 25 yards each
• Butterfly, 10 yards
• Breaststroke & sidestroke turns

Level VII: Advanced Skills
• Purpose: Encourage lifetime fitness; refine strokes learned in previous levels; develop springboard diving skills; learn advanced rescue skills.
• Demonstrate an in-water rescue using equipment
• Demonstrate how to check heart rate
• Know conditioning principles
• Demonstrate treading water for 5 minutes
• Retrieve diving brick in 8-10 feet of water
• Perform the following:
• Continuous swim, 500 yards
• Breaststroke, 50 yards
• Front crawl, 200 yards
• Sidestroke, 50 yards
• Swim under water, 15 yards
• Butterfly, 25 yards
• Back crawl, 100 yards
• Backstroke flip turn
• Tread water for 5 minutes