Swim Lessons @ GMCF

Perfect for our littlest swimmers (ages 6 months – 2 years) – get your little one in the water and having fun! Your infant/toddler will learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim-readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences.

Although there are no skill prerequisites for this course, children must be at least 6 months old to participate in the course and a parent/guardian must accompany each child in the water and participate in the classes.

For young beginners still becoming comfortable with the water! This class is for swimmers who are unable to touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow end (3 ft deep), ages 3-5. Parents/caregivers should expect to be in the pool with their swimmer.

Preschool Aquatics is recommended for children who are approximately 3 to 5 years of age. However, participation should not be determined by age alone. Consider a child’s developmental readiness, maturity and experience in the water. For some preschool children, Parent and Child Aquatics still may be appropriate, while a few may be able to go directly into the Learn-to-Swim courses.

Perfect for your little one who can stand in the shallow end on their own (3 ft deep) but is a beginner swimmer! This class will help your child independently enjoying time in the water, entering and exiting safely, and developing the beginning skills of a confident swimmer.

Learn-to-Swim Level 1 is designed to orient participants to the aquatic environment and to help them gain basic aquatic skills. In addition, participants start learning about how to be safe around water.

Perfect for swimmers ready to take the next step! If your little swimmer can stand and touch in the shallow end (3 feet deep), is able/willing to submerge nose and open eyes underwater, and can make forward progress, Level 2 is perfect!

Learn-to-Swim Level 2 builds on the basic aquatic skills and water safety skills and concepts learned in Level 1. Participants begin to perform skills at a slightly more advanced level and begin gaining rudimentary propulsive skills on both the front and the back. This level marks the beginning of independent aquatic locomotion skills. Participants learn to glide and float without support and recover to a vertical position. Participants further develop simultaneous and alternating arm and leg actions on the front and back, laying the foundation for future strokes. New water safety topics are introduced, and previously acquired water safety knowledge and skills are reinforced.

If your swimmer can back float, submerge entirely, can tread water, and can enter the deep end of the pool (beyond 3 feet depth), level 3 is for you! Level 3 swimmers will work on stroke technique, focusing on: gliding, freestyle with side breathing, backstroke, breast stroke and dolphin kicks, retrieving objects in deeper water, treading water, jumping into deep water and compact dives.

The objectives of Learn-to-Swim Level 3 are to expand proficiency of previously learned skills by providing additional guided practice. Participants learn and practice survival floating and learn to swim front crawl and elementary backstroke at rudimentary proficiency levels. We introduce the scissors and dolphin kicks and extend the time duration for treading water. Participants also learn rules for headfirst entries and begin to learn to enter the water headfirst from a seated position at poolside (if the water is 9 feet deep or deeper). As in all levels, new and previously addressed water safety topics are included. Participants who successfully complete Level 3 have achieved basic water competency in a pool environment.

This swim lessons class is for adults seeking to improve skills and swimming strokes! If you’re an adult looking to improve your abilities in the water in a group environment, this is the class for you!

Adult Swim—Improving Skills and Swimming Strokes seeks to improve participants’ proficiency in basic aquatic skills and the six basic swimming strokes. (The butterfly stroke is optional.) Participants also learn skills and concepts needed to stay safe around water, in addition to those needed to help themselves or others in an aquatic emergency.

Participants should ideally be able to:
1. Jump into deep water from the side, recover to the surface, maintain position by treading or floating
for 1 minute, turn as necessary to orient to the exit point, level off, swim front crawl and/or elementary backstroke for 25 yards, then exit the water.
2. Push off in a streamlined position, then swim front crawl for 15 yards, change position and direction as necessary, swim 15 yards elementary backstroke, then exit the water.