Aqua Tots (3 - 5 years old)
Suggested for: Children between the ages of 3 and 5 of all skill levels or 5 to 7 year olds that are too frightened of the water to learn basic swimming techniques.
Purpose: Participants learn through games that incorporate basic water skills.
Description: Skills introduced include: entering and exiting water independently/submerging face/blowing bubbles/front and back float glide with support/flutter kicking/intro to life jackets
Level 1/2 (5 - 14 years old)
Suggested for: Beginner swimmers that are comfortable in the water but cannot yet swim effectively or Beginner swimmers that can float and swim short distances on their own and to build on the fundamental aquatic locomotion, safety and rescue skills presented in Level I.
Purpose: To orient participants to the aquatic environment and teach them elementary skills that can be built on as they progress through the Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Program.
Prerequisite: Participants must be a minimum of 5 years old or a A Learn-to-Swim Level I certificate or demonstrated competency in Level I skills.
Description: Skills participant will learn and must successfully demonstrate to advance include: submerging face for 3 seconds/blowing bubbles/opening eyes underwater and picking up an object/10 chest-deep bobs/front and back float with support-5 seconds/combined stroke on front and back with support-5 feet. Those in level 2 will learn and must successfully demonstrate to advance include: holding breath and submerging entire head-10 seconds/opening eyes underwater and picking up submerged object/front and back glide-2 body lengths/changing direction of travel with paddling, front and back unsupported/flutter kicking on front and back with arm actions, unsupported-15 feet/stroke on front and back using kick and alternating arms-15 feet/turning over from front to back and back to front unsupported/basic rescue skills.
Level 3 (6-15 years old)
Suggested for: Intermediate swimmers that are capable of swimming the length of a pool and are comfortable in deep water, but may not have great technique with different swimming strokes.
Purpose: To build on the aquatic locomotion, safety, and rescue skills presented in Level II.
Prerequisite: A Learn-to-Swim Level II certificate or demonstrated competency in Level II skills.
Description: Skills participants will learn and must successfully demonstrate to advance include: jumping into deep water from the side/head-first entry into deep water, sitting or kneeling position/submerging and retrieving object in chest-deep water-3 times/front and back glide 2 body lengths/changing from vertical to horizontal in deep water, front and back/treading water-30 seconds/front and back crawl with rhythmic breathing pattern-15 yards/butterfly kick and body motion-15 feet/general and personal water safety.