YMCA SWIM LEVELS
Swim lessons nurture swim skills, develop self-esteem and creating positive experiences that leave a lasting impression.
Swim Starters for Infants & Toddlers
Accompanied by a parent or guardian, infants and toddlers learn swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building aquatic experiences.
Parent/Child Swim Starters
Ages 6 Months - 3 Years
Explore our swim lesson curriculum and swim stages for ages 6 months to 3 years.
Infants and toddlers learn swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building aquatic experiences.
A: Water Discovery
B: Water Exploration
Parent* & Child in the Water
*At the Y, we know families take a variety of forms. As a result, we define parent broadly to include all adults with primary responsibility for raising children, including biological parents, adoptive parents, guardians, stepparents, grandparents, or any other type of parenting relationship.
Parent/Child Stage A
Water Discovery
Ages 6 Months - 12 Months
Introduces infants and toddlers to the aquatic environment through exploration and encourages them to enjoy themselves while learning about the water. Water Discovery is for students who aren’t yet able to respond to verbal cues and jump on land.
With assistance, children will learn to:
- Blow bubbles on the surface of the water
- Move and float with their chin in the water
- Move and float with their head on your shoulder
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Grab the pool wall
- Enter and exit the water
Parent/Child Stage B
Water Exploration
Ages 1-3 Years
Students entering this level should be comfortable in the water, able to respond to verbal cues and jump on land. Parents work with their children to explore body positions, floating, blowing bubbles, and fundamental safety and aquatic skills. Water Explorations is for students who aren’t yet comfortable working with an instructor without a parent in the water.
With assistance, children will learn to:
- Blow bubbles with mouth and nose submerged in the water
- Move and float while blowing bubbles in the water
- Move and float with their head on your chest
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Monkey crawl
- Enter and exit the water
Swim Basics for Preschool Ages 3-5
Recommended skills for all to have around water. Preschoolers learn personal water safety and achieve basic swimming competency by learning two benchmark skills: Swim-Float-Swim and Jump, Push, Turn, Grab.
Preschool Swim Stage 1
Water Acclimation | Ages 3-5
Preschoolers develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to perform basic self-rescue skills with assistance. Preschool Swim Stage 1 is for students who aren’t yet comfortable going underwater voluntarily.
In Water Acclimation, your child will:
- Bob to submerge in the water
- Front and back glide to the wall for five feet with help
- Front and back float for 10 seconds with help
- Roll from back to front and front to back with help
- Jump, push, turn, grab with help
- Swim, float, swim 10 feet with help
- Exit the water
Preschool Swim Stage 2
Water Movement | Ages 3-5
Preschoolers entering this level should be able to go underwater voluntarily. Students focus on body position and control, directional change, and forward movement in the water while continuing to practice how to safely exit if they would fall into a body of water. Preschool Swim Stage 2 is for students who aren’t yet able to do a front and back float on their own.
In Water Movement, your child will:
- Submerge to look at an object on the bottom of the pool
- Front and back glide to the wall for five feet
- Front and back float for 10 seconds
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Jump, push, turn, grab
- Swim, float, swim five yards
- Tread water near the wall for 10 seconds
- Exit the water
Preschool Swim Stage 3
Water Stamina | Ages 3-5
Preschoolers entering this level should be able to front and back float independently. Students learn to swim to safety from a longer distance. They are introduced to rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action. Preschool Swim Stage 3 is for students who aren’t yet able to swim 10-15 yards on their front and back.
In Water Stamina, your child will:
- Retrieve an object in chest-deep water
- Swim on their front and back for 10 yards
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Jump, push, turn, grab 10 yards
- Swim, float, swim 15 yards
- Tread water for 30 seconds
- Exit the water
Swim Basics for School Ages 5-12
Recommended skills for all to have around water. Students learn personal water safety and achieve basic swimming competency by learning two benchmark skills: Swim-Float-Swim and Jump, Push, Turn, Grab.
School Age Swim Stage 1
Water Acclimation | Ages 5-12
Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water. School Age Swim Stage 1 is for students who aren’t yet comfortable going underwater voluntarily.
In Water Acclimation, your child will:
- Bob to submerge in the water
- Front and back glide to the wall for five feet
- Front and back float for 10 seconds
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Jump, push, turn, grab
- Swim, float, swim 10 feet
- Exit the water
School Age Swim Stage 2
Water Movement | Ages 5-12
Children entering this level should be able to go underwater voluntarily. Students focus on body position and control, directional change, and forward movement in the water while continuing to practice how to safely exit if they would fall into a body of water. School Age Swim Stage 2 is for students who aren’t yet able to do a front and back float on their own.
In Water Movement, your child will:
- Submerge to look at an object on the bottom of the pool
- Front and back glide to the wall for five feet
- Front and back float for 10 seconds
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Jump, push, turn, grab
- Swim, float, swim five yards
- Tread water near the wall for 10 seconds
- Exit the water
School Age Swim Stage 3
Water Stamina | Ages 5-12
Children entering this level should be able to front and back float independently. Students learn to swim to safety from a longer distance. They are introduced to rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action. School Age Swim Stage 3 is for students who aren’t yet able to swim 10-15 yards on their front and back.
In Water Stamina, your child will:
- Retrieve an object in chest-deep water
- Swim on their front and back for 15 yards
- Roll from back to front and front to back
- Jump, push, turn, grab 10 yards
- Swim, float, swim 25 yards
- Tread water for 1 minute
Swim Strokes for School Ages 5-12
Skills to support a healthy lifestyle. Having mastered the fundamentals, students learn additional water safety skills and build stroke technique, develope skills that prevent chronic disease, increase social-emotional and cognitive well-being, and foster a lifetime of physical activity.
School Age Swim Stage 4
Stroke Introduction | Ages 5-12
Children entering School Age Swim Stage 4 should be able to swim 15 yards on their front and back independently. Students develop stroke technique in front and back crawl and learn the breaststroke kick and butterfly kick. Water safety is reinforced through treading water and elementary backstroke.
In Stroke Introduction, your child will:
- Swim the front crawl with rotary breathing for 15 yards
- Breaststroke kick for 15 yards
- Butterfly kick for 15 yards
- Elementary backstroke for 15 yards
- Dive from a sitting position
- Tread water using a scissor and whip kick for one minute
- Swim any combination of strokes for 25 yards
School Age Swim Stage 5
Stroke Development | Ages 5-12
Children entering School Age Swim Stage 5 should be able to swim 25 yards of front and back crawl. Students work on stroke technique and learn all major competitive strokes. Emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke.
In Stroke Development, your child will:
- Swim the front crawl with bent-arm recovery for 25 yards
- Breaststroke for 25 yards
- Butterfly with simultaneous arm action and kick for 15 yards
- Back crawl for 25 yards
- Sidestroke for 25 yards
- Dive from a kneeling position
- Tread water using a scissor and whip kick for two minutes
- Swim any combination of strokes for 50 yards
School Age Swim Stage 6
Stroke Mechanics | Ages 5-12
Children entering School Age Swim Stage 6 should be able to swim 25 yards of front crawl, back crawl, and breaststroke. Students refine stroke technique on all major competitive strokes, learn about competitive swimming, and discover how to incorporate swimming into a healthy lifestyle.
In Stroke Mechanics, your child will:
- Swim front crawl for 50 yards with a flip turn
- Breaststroke for 50 yards with an open turn
- Butterfly for 25 yards
- Back crawl for 50 yards with a flip turn
- Sidestroke or elementary backstroke for 50 yards
- Dive from a standing position
- Tread water for one minute and retrieve an object from the bottom of the pool
- Swim any combination of strokes for 150 yards
We offer swim lessons year round!
With a focus on water safety and skill development, the YMCA Swim Lesson program is effective at helping children and adults learn to swim and, most importantly, be safe around water. Follow the link to find out when the next session of swim lessons start.