Pre-School Programs: For ages 3 years and up.

This is a child’s first experience in the pool without parental assistance. The children are taught basic skills. They also learn about pool safety, boating safety and the use of personal flotation devices (PFDs). The 30-minute class is taught by a caring, certified swim instructor. Class participants are divided into skill levels. The class size allows the instructor to provide children with individual attention.

• Pike: This level helps children develop safe pool behavior, adjust to the water, and develop independent movement in the water. It is designed for new swimmers, teaching basic paddle stroke, and kicking skills, pool safety, proper use of instructional flotation devices (IFPs) and PFDs, and comfort with holding the face in the water while blowing bubbles and swimming.
• Eel: This advanced beginner level reinforces Pike skills. It is for children who are comfortable in the water. They are taught to kick, dive, float, and perform the progressive paddle stroke. They also learn basic boating safety and use of PFDs. Children can swim across the pool without assistance by the end of this level.
• Ray: Children review previous skills improve stroke skills, learn more personal, safety and rescue skills, build endurance by swimming on their front and back, and learn to tread water and perform more progressive diving skills. Children can swim across the pool on their front and back without assistance.
• Starfish: Children review and refine their strokes as well as their personal safety, rescue and floating skills. They also learn underwater swimming skills. Children can swim a length of the pool on their front and back at the end of this level.