Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front & back float, 10 seconds, assisted, recover independently
• Front & back glide, assisted, to wall, 5 feet

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front, assisted
• Submerge, bob independently

Students in this stage are expected to gain the skills above and develop the ability to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, push, turn, grab assisted and the swim, float, swim sequence assisted for 10 feet.

Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front & back float 10 seconds, assisted, recover independently
• Front & back glide, assisted, to wall, 5 feet

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front, assisted
• Submerge, bob independently

Students in this stage are expected to gain the skills above and develop the ability to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, push, turn, grab assisted and the swim, float, swim sequence assisted for 10 feet.

Students focus on body position and control, directional change, and forward movement in the water while also continuing to practice how to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front & back float, 10 seconds
• Front & back glide, 5 feet
• Endurance to jump, push, turn, grab independently and complete the swim, float, swim sequence for 5 yards

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Tread water, 10 seconds, near wall, exit
• Submerge & look at an object on the bottom

Students in this stage are expected to have the skills needed to be proficient with the following and have the ability to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, push, turn, grab assisted and the swim, float, swim sequence assisted for 5 yards.

• Front & back float, 10 seconds, assisted, recover independently
• Front & back glide, assisted, at wall, 5 feet

Required water safety & breath control skills for this stage include:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front, assisted
• Submerge, bob independently

Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front & back float 10 seconds, assisted, recover independently
• Front & back glide, assisted, to wall, 5 feet

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front, assisted
• Submerge, bob independently

Students in this stage are expected to gain the skills above and develop the ability to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, push, turn, grab assisted and the swim, float, swim sequence assisted for 10 feet.

Students learn how to swim to safety from a longer distance than in previous stages in the event of falling into a body of water. This stage also introduces rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Swim on front & back using any arm & leg action, 15 yards
• Endurance to jump, swim, turn, grab 10 yards and complete the swim, float, swim sequence 25 yards

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Tread water, 1 minute, exit
• Submerge & retrieve an object in chest deep water

Students in this stage are expected to have the skills needed to be proficient with the following and have the ability to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, push, turn, grab and the swim, float, swim sequence for 5 yards.

• Front & back float, 20 seconds
• Front & back glide, 10 feet

Required water safety & breath control skills for this stage include:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Tread water, 10 seconds, near wall, exit
• Submerge & look at an object on the bottom

Students develop stroke technique in front crawl and back crawl and learn the breaststroke kick and butterfly kick. Water safety is reinforced through treading water and elementary backstroke.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front crawl with rotary breathing, 15 yards
• Back crawl with shoulder roll, 15 yards
• Breaststroke kick, 15 yards
• Butterfly kick, 15 yards
• Endurance to swim 25 yards using any stroke or combination of strokes

Water safety skills developed in this stage:

• Sitting dive
• Elementary backstroke coordinating arm & leg action to obtain a resting back glide position, 15 yards
• Tread water, 1 minute, using scissor & whip kick

Students in this stage are expected to have the skills needed to be proficient swimming 15 yards of the following and have endurance to complete the 2 benchmark skills of jump, swim, turn, swim and grab 10 yards and the swim, float, swim sequence for 25 yards.

• Swim on front & back using any arm & leg action

Required water safety & breath control skills needed for this stage include:

• Exit water independently
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Tread water, 1 minute
• Submerge & retrieve an object in chest deep water

Students work on stroke technique and learn all major competitive strokes. The emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke.

Strokes & endurance developed in this stage:

• Front crawl using bent arm recovery, 25 yards
• Back crawl with shoulder roll & bent arm pull, 25 yards
• Breaststroke using the proper combination of  pull, breath, kick & glide, 25 yards
• Butterfly with simultaneous arm action & kick, 15 yards
• Endurance swim 50 yards using any stroke or combination of strokes

Water safety skills developed in this stage:

• Kneeling dive
• Sidestroke coordinating arm & leg action to return to a side streamline position, 25 yards
• Tread water, 2 minutes, using scissor & whip kick

Students in this stage are expected to have the skills needed to be proficient swimming 15 yards of the following strokes and have endurance to swim 25 yards using any combination of strokes.

• Front crawl with rotary breathing
• Back crawl with shoulder roll
• Breaststroke kick
• Butterfly kick

Required water safety skills for this stage include:

• Sitting dive
• Elementary backstroke coordinating arm & leg action to obtain a resting back glide position, 15 yards
• Tread water, 1 minute, using scissor & whip kick

Parents accompany children which introduces infants and toddlers to the aquatic environment through exploration and encourages them to enjoy themselves while learning about the water.

Strokes developed in this stage are all assisted by parent:

• Front tow & float, chin in the water
• Back tow & float, head on shoulder

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage are all assisted by parent:

• Water entry & exit, parent & child togeher
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Wall grab
• Blow bubbles on surface

Parents work with their children to explore body positions, floating, blowing bubbles and fundamental safety and aquatic skills.

Strokes developed in this stage are all assisted by parent:

• Front tow & float, blow bubbles
• Back tow & float, head on chest

Water safety & breath control skills developed in this stage are all assisted by parent:

• Water entry & exit
• Roll front to back & back to front
• Monkey crawl, on edge, 5 feet
• Blow bubbles mouth & nose submerged