Swimming and Water Safety Swim Lesson Levels

Parent and Child Aquatics (6 months to approximately 3 years)

Parents and children learn together to increase a child's comfort level in the water and build a foundation of basic skills, such as arm and leg movements and breath control. These levels are fun-filled and help introduce water safety concepts, encouraging a healthy recreational habit that your entire family can enjoy.

Guppies: (6 months to approximately 3 years)

*Must have parent with their child to participate*

Provides experiences and activities for children to:

• Learn to ask for permission before entering the water.
• Establish expectation for adult supervision.
• Learn how to enter and exit the water in a safe manner.
• Feel comfortable in the water.
• Explore submerging to the mouth, nose and eyes and fully submerging.
• Explore buoyancy on the front and back position.
• Change body position in the water.
• Learn how to play safely.
• Explore submerging in a rhythmic pattern.
• Glide on the front and back with assistance.
• Perform combined stroke on front and back with assistance.
• Experience wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket.
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics.

Preschool Aquatics (approximately 3 to 5 years old)

Throughout the three levels, preschool-age children are taught basic aquatic safety and swimming skills, all the while increasing their comfort level in and around the water. Skills are age-appropriate, helping children achieve success on a regular basis and enjoy social interactions with other children. As in all Swimming and Water Safety courses, your child will always know that it’s safety first.

Seahorse: (3 - 5 years)

Orients children to the aquatic environment and helps them gain basic aquatic skills.

• Enter water using ramp, steps or side
• Exit water using ladder, steps or side
• Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
• Submerge mouth, nose and eyes
• Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
• Front glide and recover to a vertical position
• Back glide and recover to a vertical position
• Back float
• Roll from front to back and back to front
• Tread with arm and hand actions
• Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on front
• Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on back
• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Sea Star: (3 - 5 years)

Helps children gain greater independence in their skills and develop more comfort in and around water. Enter water by stepping in from a deck or low height

• Exit water using ladder, steps or side
• Bobbing
• Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
• Front float
• Back glide and float and recover to a vertical position
• Roll from front to back and back to front
• Tread water using arm and leg actions
• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Finning arm action on back
• Enter water by jumping in
• Fully submerge and hold breath
• Rotary breathing
• Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
• Front and back float or glide and recover to a vertical position
• Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Learn-to-Swim (children approximately 6 years through early teen)

Designed to help participants achieve maximum success, Learn-to-Swim courses are based on a logical, six-level progression that helps swimmers of varying ages and abilities develop their water safety, survival and swim skills.

Otter/Level 1

Introduction to Water Skills: Helps participants feel comfortable in the water.

• Enter water using ramp, steps or side
• Exit water using ladder, steps or side
• Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
• Bobbing
• Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
• Front and back glides and recover to a vertical position
• Back float
• Roll from front to back and back to front
• Tread water using arm and hand actions
• Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on front
• Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on back
• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Sunfish/level 2

Fundamental Aquatic Skills: Gives participants success with fundamental skills. .

• Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side
• Exit water using ladder, steps or side
• Fully submerge and hold breath
• Bobbing
• Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
• Rotary breathing
• Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
• Back glide and recover to a vertical position
• Front glide and recover to vertical position
• Roll from front to back and back to front
• Tread water using arm and leg actions
• Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Finning arm action
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Seal/level 3

Stroke Improvement

Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills.

• Headfirst entries from the side in compact and stride positions
• Swim underwater
• Feet first surface dive
• Survival swimming
• Open turns on front and back
• Tread water using 2 different kicks
• Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly
• Flutter and dolphin kicks on back
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Swordfish/level 4

Stroke Refinement

Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills.

• Headfirst entries from the side in compact and stride positions
• Swim underwater
• Feetfirst surface dive
• Survival swimming
• Open turns on front and back
• Tread water using 2 different kicks
• Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly
• Flutter and dolphin kicks on back
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Dolphin/level 5

Stroke Refinement

Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes.

• Shallow-angle dive from the side then glide and begin a front stroke
• Tuck and pike surface dives, submerge completely
• Front flip turn and backstroke flip turn while swimming
• Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly
• Sculling
• Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Shark/level 6

Swimming and Skill Proficiency

Refines the strokes so participants swim them with ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Level 6 is designed with “menu” options that focus on preparing participants for more advanced courses, including the Water Safety instructor course, or other aquatic activities, such as competitive swimming or diving. Each option also includes applicable water safety topics.

Options include the following:

• Fitness Swimmer
• Personal Water Safety
• Fundamentals of Diving

Adult Swim (teens through adults)

American Red Cross Adult Swim is intended for teens and adults who wish to improve their knowledge and skill for many reasons. It may be to overcome their fear of the water and to learn the basic skills and achieve a minimum level of water competency to improve their skill and technique either to increase their level of safety to improve their health and fitness or to perhaps compete in triathlons or to join a masters team. Please email swimlessons@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-5941 to set up lessons.