Find Your Swim Stage. Find Your Y.
Group swim lessons progress through eight skills-based stages and beyond. Swimmers should be comfortable and consistent in performing each skill within a stage before progressing to the next level.
Fall 2023 Update
You may be familiar with the Y's current group swim lessons in three main categories: Swim Starters, Swim Basics, and Swim Strokes. Beginning in January 2024, these categories will be split into eight stages. As swimmers progress through each of the eight stages, they will master key skills, become comfortable in the water, practice water safety, and learn stroke techniques
The Stages of Swim Lessons
Learn more about the specific skills practiced in each swim stage below and click the button to jump to the levels within each stage.
Starters
Swimmers learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences, while adults learn about water safety.
Stages: A and B
Ages: 6 months-3 years, with adult
Basics
Swimmers become comfortable and confident in the water by practicing safe water habits, engaging in underwater exploration, and learning how to swim to safety if they fall into a body of water.
Stages: 1-3
Ages: 3-12 years
Strokes
Having mastered the fundamentals, swimmers learn additional water safety skills and build stroke techniques for front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, sidestroke, and elementary backstroke.
Stages: 4-6
Ages: 3-12 years
Pathways
The competition, leadership, and recreation pathways are specialized tracks after completing all swim lesson stages. Build endurance before joining swim teams, try out water sports, or build skills for future water careers.
Ages: 6-21
Teen and Adult
Teen and Adult swim lessons encompass swim lesson stages 1-6. The first day of class includes assessing current skills and comfort in the water for appropriate progressive instruction ranging from swim basics to swim strokes.
Ages: 12 and older
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Swim Starters
Accompanied by a parent or guardian, infants and toddlers learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences, while parents or guardians learn about water safety, drowning prevention, and the importance of supervision.
Stage A | Water Discovery
Infants and toddlers are introduced to the aquatic environment through exploration and encouraged to enjoy themselves while learning about the water with the help of their parent or guardian.
Ages
- Six months to crawling
Skills Practiced
- Blow bubbles on the surface, assisted
- Front tow with chin in water, assisted
- Water exit, adult and child together
- Water entry, adult and child together
- Back float with head on shoulder, assisted
- Roll, assisted
- Front float with chin in water, assisted
- Back tow with head on shoulder, assisted
- Wall grab, assisted
Stage B | Water Exploration
Infants and toddlers explore body positions, floating, blowing bubbles, and fundamental safety and aquatic skills with the help of their parent or guardian in the water.
Ages
- Crawling to three years
Skills Practiced
- Blow bubbles with mouth and nose submerged, assisted
- Front tow while blowing bubbles, assisted
- Water exit, assisted
- Water entry, assisted
- Back float with head on chest, assisted
- Roll, assisted
- Front float while blowing bubbles, assisted
- Back tow with head on chest, assisted
- Monkey crawl along pool edge for five feet, assisted
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Swim Basics
Swimmers learn personal water safety and achieve basic swimming competency by learning
two benchmark skills:
- Swim, float, swim—sequencing front glide, roll, back float, roll, front glide, and exit
- Jump, push, turn, grab
Stage One | Water Acclimation
Swimmers develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to exit safely when falling into a body of water. This stage lays the foundation for a swimmer's future progress.
Ages
- Preschool ages 3-5
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Submerge and bob, independently
- Front glide to wall for five feet, assisted
- Water exit, independently
- Jump, push, turn, and grab, assisted
- Back float assisted for ten seconds, recover independently
- Roll, assisted
- Front float assisted for ten seconds, recover independently
- Back glide at wall for five feet, assisted
- Swim, float, swim for ten feet, assisted
Stage Two | Water Movement
Swimmers focus on body position and control, directional change, and forward movement in the water while practicing safely exiting when falling into a body of water.
Ages
- Preschool ages 3-5
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Submerge to look at an object at the bottom of the pool
- Front glide for ten feet youth or five feet preschool
- Water exit, independently
- Jump, push, turn, and grab
- Back float for 20 seconds youth or 10 seconds preschool
- Roll
- Front float 20 seconds youth or 10 seconds preschool
- Back glide for ten feet youth or five feet preschool
- Tread water for ten seconds near the wall and exit
- Swim, float, swim for five yards
Stage Three: Water Stamina
Swimmers learn to swim to safety from a longer distance when falling into a body of water. This stage also introduces rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action.
Ages
- Preschool ages 3-5
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Submerge to retrieve an object in chest-deep water
- Swim on front for 15 yards youth or 10 yards preschool
- Water exit, independently
- Jump, swim, turn, swim, and grab for 10 yards
- Swim on back for 15 yards youth or 10 yards preschool
- Roll
- Tread water and exit for one-minute youth or 30-second preschool
- Swim, float, swim for 25 yards youth or 15 yards preschool
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Swim Strokes
Having mastered the fundamentals, swimmers learn additional water safety skills and build stroke techniques, develop skills that prevent chronic disease, increase social-emotional and cognitive well-being, and foster a lifetime of physical activity.
Stage Four | Stroke Introduction
Swimmers develop stroke techniques in front and back crawl and learn the breaststroke kick and butterfly kick. Water safety is reinforced through treading water and elementary backstroke.
Ages
- Preschool ages 3-5
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Endurance of any stroke or combination of strokes for 25 yards
- Front crawl with rotary breathing for 15 yards
- Back crawl for 15 yards
- Dive, sitting
- Resting stroke (elementary backstroke) for 15 yards
- Tread water with scissor and whip kick for one minute
- Breaststroke kick for 15 yards
- Butterfly kick for 15 yards
Stage Five | Stroke Development
Swimmers work on stroke technique and learn all major competitive strokes. The emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke.
Ages
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Endurance of any stroke or combination of strokes for 50 yards
- Front crawl with bent-arm recovery for 25 yards
- Back crawl with pull for 25 yards
- Dive, kneeling
- Resting stroke (sidestroke) for 25 yards
- Tread water with scissor and whip kick for two minutes
- Breaststroke for 25 yards
- Butterfly with simultaneous arm action and kick for 15 yards
Stage Six | Stroke Mechanics
Swimmers refine stroke technique on all major competitive strokes, learn about competitive swimming, and discover how to incorporate swimming into a healthy lifestyle.
Ages
- Youth ages 5-12
Skills Practiced
- Endurance of any stroke or combination of strokes for 150 yards
- Front crawl with a flip turn for 50 yards
- Back crawl with pull and flip turn for 50 yards
- Dive, standing
- Resting stroke for 50 yards (elementary backstroke or sidestroke)
- Tread water for one minute and retrieve an object off the bottom of the pool
- Breaststroke with an open turn for 50 yards
- Butterfly for 25 yards
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Swim Pathways
Swimmers build confidence, cultivate their passion, and stay active through specialized tracks.
Competition
Aquatic Conditioning is one offering from the competitive pathway that swimmers can pursue following YMCA Swim Lessons. The program focuses on continuing to build endurance and stroke technique on all major competitive strokes and encourages swimming as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Swimmers in this program will focus on the following important milestones: developing endurance in competitive strokes, developing skills related to competitive swimming, such as flip turns, starts, and finishes, enhancing skills, and building endurance.
Ages: 6-17
Leadership
Junior Lifeguard and Junior Swim Instructor are two offerings from the leadership pathway that swimmers can pursue following YMCA Swim Lessons.
These programs encourage leadership development in aquatic safety or aquatic instruction to prepare and motivate participants to become lifeguards or swim instructors through separate certification courses. Participants also focus on increasing endurance to meet the prerequisite physical competency requirements.
Ages: 11-17
Recreation
Sports and Games is one offering from the recreation pathway that swimmers can pursue following YMCA Swim Lessons. The program continues to build endurance on all major competitive strokes and encourages aquatic sports and games as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Swimmers in this program will focus on the following milestones: enhancing swimming skills and building endurance, developing knowledge in various aquatic skills and sports such as water polo, snorkeling, diving, and synchronized swimming, and increasing endurance in competitive strokes.
Ages: 6-14
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Teen and Adult Swim Lessons
It's never too late to learn to swim, enhance your skills, or perfect your stroke.
Beginner
Designed for teens and adults with no knowledge of swimming, participants in this class will become acquainted with floating, flutter kick, treading water, rudimentary rotary breathing, and basic front crawl.
Ages: 12 and older
Intermediate
Teen and adult swimmers will refine front crawl and back crawl strokes and learn to tread water in this class. Requirements: Must be able to complete 20 yards of rudimentary front crawl and be comfortable in deep water.
Ages: 12 and older
Advanced
For teens and adults, this class is designed to provide a workout while focusing on stroke development, endurance training, butterfly stroke, and turns. Requirements: Must be able to swim four laps nonstop.
Ages: 12 and older
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