Group Swim Lessons

Swim & Safety

Available during summer months

Campus Recreation's certified water safety instructors follow the American Red Cross approach in helping people at every skill level improve and gain confidence in the water.

Sign up through the Campus Rec program portal

View cost, dates & register

Class selection adjustments may be made on the first day of lessons to accommodate skill level and class size.

Parent and Child

  • Participant age: 6 months to 3 years
  • About: Parent/guardian actively participates in their child's swim lessons. You must be in the pool with the child during the lesson.
    • 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.
  • 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

  • Participant 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

  • About: People who have little to no experience in water are encouraged to start on this level.
  • Estimated beginning age: 5+ 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

  • Estimated beginning age: 6+ years
    • Should be proficient in Level 1 skills.
  • 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

  • Estimated beginning age: 7+ years
    • Should be proficient in Levels 1 and 2 skills.
  • 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

  • Estimated beginning age: 8+ years
    • Should be proficient in Levels 1, 2 and 3 skills.
  • 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