As “America’s Swim Instructor”, the Y has been teaching kids how to be safe around water for decades. Beginning January 2017, we’ll be making some changes to our swim lesson structure to simplify and more accurately describe skill levels.

What is different?

We’re making two key changes to swim lessons:

Name changes: Lesson names are changing to stages that better reflect the skills learned and we’re moving away from the identifying fish levels. Visit your local Y for more information and a detailed guide on which stage is appropriate for your children.

When registering in December for January sessions, these changes will be reflected both on the website and if signing up at your local branch.

Curriculum changes: We’re also changing the curriculum to better serve different learning styles of our youth participants. We’ve simplified the structure by focusing on benchmark skills and goals in each stage. Students progress from fundamentals to stroke technique over 6 distinct stages.

Swimming lessons are essential for kids to become safe around water, and learn to set and achieve goals. We’re looking forward to launching this new swim lesson structure and helping many more young people build swimming confidence.