Youth Swim Lessons

• Why are swimming lessons being expanded to 13-week sessions? Having 13-week sessions is generally considered more beneficial than 7-week sessions for several reasons:

SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND RETENTION

• Longer Practice Period – More extended periods allow swimmers to practice and reinforce skills more thoroughly. Repetition over a longer period of time allows more muscle memory and skill retention.
• Progression – Swimmers have more time to progress through various skill levels. Each skill can be taught and mastered before moving on to the next, leading to a more comprehensive development

CONSISTENCY AND ROUTINE

• Building Habit – Regular, longer-term lessons help build a routine. Consistency is crucial in developing a habit and comfort with water and swimming, especially for younger swimmers.
• Reduced Learning Gaps – Fewer breaks between lessons mean swimmers have fewer chances to forget what they have learned, ensuring continuous improvement.

CONFIDENCE BUILDING

• Confidence – More time in the pool helps swimmers become more comfortable and confident in their abilities. This confidence is essential for both safety and enjoyment.
• Gradual Challenges – In a longer session, instructors can introduce challenges gradually, allowing swimmers to gain confidence without feeling overwhelmed.

INSTRUCTOR-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP

• Stronger Bond – Over 13 weeks, swimmers can develop a stronger relationship with their instructors, fostering trust and a better understanding of individual needs.
• Personalized Feedback -Instructors have more time to observe and provide personalized feedback, helping each swimmer improve effectively.

Overall, 13-week swim lessons provide a more in-depth, consistent, and effective learning experience, leading to better outcomes in skill development, confidence, and overall enjoyment of swimming.

Our swim lesson program is designed to help kids develop a lifelong love of the water with competency, confidence and endurance. Parents or Guardian/Child classes for children under age 3 years (or not potty trained) offer the opportunity for toddlers to become comfortable in the water with the security of a parent or guardian. Please have your child wear a waterproof swim diaper. No disposable diapers at any time.

Preschool classes for children 3-6 years (and potty trained) start them on the way to becoming a swimmer with four progressive levels starting with “Polliwog” class will be introduced in our Youth classes for children 7-15 years.

If your child is new to our program (or has not participated at our Y for more than six months), you must set up an evaluation to determine their swim level before registering for a class. Email Assistant Aquatics Director Yash Kothari at Yashk@lhymca.com. EVALUATION IS NOT NEEDED FOR A BEGINNER. Just sign up for the age-appropriate class. IF your child is enrolled in lessons, you will receive an email 24 hours before the next registration time notifying you of your child’s appropriate level for which you should sign up. Parents: A swim evaluation is necessary prior to registration for new students except for Polliwog.

A child’s current swim level may change during the swim session based on continuous evaluations by our swim supervisors, the advancement to the next level during these 13 weeks will depend on the child having all the skills necessary to advance.

Our swim philosophy believes flotation devices help children gradually become accustomed to the water. We remove these devices periodically throughout the program to test your child’s water safety and to build confidence.

SEE DESCRIPTIONS ON SWIM LEVELS BELOWS

New to swim lessons? The basis of Y swim lessons is water safety skills. Students learn personal water safety and achieve basic swimming competency by learning two benchmark skills: swim, float, swim—sequencing front glide, roll, back float, roll, front glide and exit—and jump, push, turn, grab.

As students’ progress, they are taught in swim lessons the recommended skills for all to have around water, including safe water habits, underwater exploration and how to swim to safety and exit in the event of falling into a body of water. Activities, games, and drills geared to reinforce learning are utilized heavily as students continue through this skill-based approach to swimming. Preschool classes start them on the way to becoming a swimmer with 4 progressive levels starting with “Pike” class. For descriptions on all of our swim classes, click on the brochure button on the top of this page.

After having mastered the fundamentals, students learn additional water safety skills and build stroke technique preventing chronic disease, increasing social-emotional and cognitive well-being and fostering a lifetime of physical activity. Students work on refining stroke technique and learning all major competitive strokes in swimming lessons. The emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke. Students will learn about competitive swimming and discover how to incorporate swimming into a healthy lifestyle. A swim evaluation is needed prior to registration for new students except for Polliwog.

For descriptions on all of our swim classes, click on the brochure button on the top of this page.

This 30-minute weekly pool program provides each child (ages 3 and potty trained through 18 years) the support and tools needed to develop and increase basic aquatic skills in a safe environment. For more information, contact Aquatics Director, Alex Fraser at Alexf@lhymca.com