Axe ’Em, Jacks!
Focused on building skills one step at a time
Learn to swim at your own pace in classes taught by certified, knowledgeable instructors in a safe environment. Developed by the American Red Cross, Learn-to-Swim classes will help adults and children at every skill level improve and gain confidence.
Group lessons for children begin June 7
Explore the description of each class level below to determine which level is right for your child. Adjustments may be made on the first day of lessons to accommodate skill level and class size.
Summer 2021 important notes: Sessions are two-weeks in length, offer morning lessons only and are scheduled Monday through Thursday. Private lessons and afternoon group lessons are not anticipated to be scheduled at this time.
Parent and Child: 6 months to 3 years
Parents or guardians of children 6 months to 3 years of age will actively participate in their child's swim lessons. This not only helps increase the child's comfort level in the water, but can help parents understand the process and practice skills with their children between classes.
- Age: 6 months to 3 years
- Class covers:
- Familiarizing children with the water
- Introducing swimming readiness skills
- Games, songs and activities are integrated to keep children engaged and comfortable.
- Parents are provided with safety information and teaching techniques they can use to help their children get accustomed to the water.
- Criteria to advance: Age, along with child being able to move freely through water without parents
Preschool: 4 to 5 years
- Age: 4 to 5 years
- Skills taught:
- Blowing bubbles
- Opening eyes underwater and fully submerging
- Floating on back and front for three seconds
- Making alternating and simultaneous leg and arm movements on front and back
- Criteria to advance: Moving independently through the water (submerging head and being comfortable making front movements and being on back)
Level 1: Introduction to Water Skills
Children who have had little to no experience in water are encouraged to start on this level.
- Age: 5/6+ years
- Skills taught:
- Floating on back
- Kicking and making arm movements on front and back
- Submerging body
- All skills will be done mostly independently but with some help from instructors.
- Criteria to advance: Performing skills independently and being able to submerge whole body comfortably
Level 2: Fundamentals of Aquatic Skills
- Age: 6+ years
- Skills taught:
- Rotary breathing (side-to-side breaths)
- Different types of floats
- Improving alternating kicks and arm movements
- Combined kicks and arm movements while floating on back or stomach
- Criteria to advance: Swimming independently using combined arm and leg actions on front for five body lengths and float for 15 seconds
Level 3: Stroke Development
- Age: 7/8+ years
- Skills taught:
- Improving treading and stroke development for freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke
- Dolphin and scissor kicks
- Criteria to advance: Swimming front crawl for 15 yards and changing direction as necessary and swimming 15 yards of elementary backstroke
Level 4: Stroke Improvement
- Age: 8+ years
- Skills taught:
- Improving proficiency in performing the swimming strokes introduced in Level 3 and all the stroke techniques learned throughout Learn-to-Swim program
- Butterfly stroke
- Criteria to advance: Performing a feet-first entry into deep water, swimming front crawl for 25 yards, changing direction and swimming elementary backstroke for 25 yards
Registration information
- Session One: June 7 to June 17
- Registration closes June 2
- Session Two: June 21 to July 1
- Registration closes June 16
Online registration opens May 1 and will automatically close a specific level in a session once it has reached capacity. After registering, you will receive an email confirming your registration.
Cost: $60 for members, $75 for non-members
Parking permits are not included in the swim lesson fee.
COVID-19 protocols and group lesson policies
COVID-19 protocols: Instructors and participants will receive a temperature check before each lesson. If a temperature reading exceeds 100 degrees, the lesson will be rescheduled.
COVID-19 Student Recreation Center policies