Youth Swim
Lessons
The YMCA is committed to helping kids and families become strong, confident swimmers. In the land of 10,000 lakes, everyone should have access to quality instruction to learn critical water safety skills.
Why the Y for swim lessons?
Experienced swim instructors take a safety-first approach to help kids of all ages and skill levels learn at their own pace. This builds confidence in the water and fosters a love for swimming.
We limit our class sizes so students can receive individualized instruction. Our largest classes have a 6:1 instructor ratio. Some classes will have even smaller ratios with more one-on-one time per student.
As a bonus, our warm pool and year-round instruction allow kids to build upon their progress and retain skills permanently.
Which stage is the student ready for?
6 months - 3 years
Parent & Child: Stages A-B3 years - 5 years
Preschool: Stages 1-45 years - 12 years
School Age: Stages 1-612+ years
Teen & Adult: Stages 1-6Review this document to determine the right stage for a student based on their water skills.
If you have questions or need assistance selecting the right stage for a student, please contact Ally Arellano at swimlessons@scymca.org.
Stage descriptions
Swim Starters
Accompanied by a parent, infants and toddlers learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences. Parents learn about water safety, drowning prevention, and the importance of supervision.
Swim basics
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.
Swim strokes
Having mastered the fundamentals, students learn additional water safety skills and build stroke technique, developing skills that prevent chronic disease, increase social-emotional and cognitive well-being, and foster a lifetime of physical activity.