Recreational Sports Outdoor Program

Swim Lesson Descriptions

The American Red Cross Parent & Child Aquatic program familiarizes young children (6 mo. to 3 yrs) to the water, and prepares them as they progress, to learn to swim in the American Red Cross Pre-School Aquatics or Learn-to- Swim courses:

Parent-Child 1
The goals for Level 1 are to provide experiences and activities for children to:
-Learn to ask permission before entering the water.
-Learn how to exit and enter the water in a safe manner.
-Feel comfortable in the water
-Explore submerging to the mouth, nose and eyes completely
-Explore buoyancy on front and back position.
-Change body position in the water.
-Learn how to play safely
-Experience wearing a life jacket.

Parent-Child 2
The goals for Level 2 are to provide experiences and activities for children to:
-Establish expectation for adult supervision
-Explore submerging in a rhythmic pattern
-Glide on front and back with assistance
-Perform combined stroke on front and back with assistance
-Change body position in the water
-Experience wearing a lifejacket in the water

Level 1
Introduction to Water Skills
There is no pre-requisite for this course. The objective of Level 1 is to help student’s feel comfortable in the water, and to enjoy the water safely. In Level 1, students are taught elementary aquatic skills, which student’s build on as they progress through the six “Learn to Swim” levels.

Level 2:
Fundamentals of Aquatic Skills
Student’s entering this course must have a Level 1
certification, or must be able to demonstrate all the
completion requirements for Level 1. The objective for Level 2 is to give students success with fundamental skills and introduce them to true locomotion skills. Examples: Floating w/out support and recover to a vertical position; exploring simultaneous and alternating arm and leg action on the front and back; self help and basic rescue skills.

Level 3:
Stroke Development
Student’s entering this course must have a Level 2 certification, or must be able to demonstrate all the completion requirements for Level 2. The objective for level 3 is to build on the skills from Level 2 by providing additional guided practice. Students will be taught: Coordination of the front crawl & back crawl; introductory elements of the butterfly; fundamentals of treading water, rules of head-first entries and begin to learn to enter the water head-first from the side of the pool @ a depth of 9 feet; a continuum of personal rescue skills.

Level 4:
Stroke Improvement
Student’s entering this course must have a Level 3 certification, or must be able to demonstrate all the
completion requirements for Level 3. The objective for Level 4 is to develop confidence in the strokes learned thus far and to improve other aquatic skills. At this level, students will be focusing on improving their skills and increasing their endurance by swimming familiar strokes (front crawl, back crawl); improving their proficiency with the butterfly; introduction to elementary backstroke,
breaststroke and elements of the sidestroke; basics of turns

Level 5:
Stroke Refinement
Student’s entering this course must have a Level 4
certification, or must be able to demonstrate all the
completion requirements for Level 4. The objective for Level 5 is to coordinate and refine the front crawl, back crawl, butterfly, breaststroke, elementary backstroke,
sidestroke; increase distances; introduce flip turns on the front and back.

Level 6a:
Swimming and Skill Proficiency
Student’s entering this course must have a Level 5
certification, or must be able to demonstrate all the
completion requirements for Level 5. The objective for Level 6 is to refine the strokes so student’s swim them with more ease, efficiency, power, and smoothness over greater distances. In level 6 there are (3) components: #a)Personal Water Safety; #b)Lifeguard Readiness; #c)Fitness Swimmer. Each of these components focus on preparing the student for more advanced courses, such as: Water Safety Instructor, Lifeguard Training, and Competitive Swimming and Diving

Private lessons available by appointment, call 218 726-6516

Hydraulic chair lift system and Easy Ladder are available for patrons needing assistance in / out of pool