Develop a love of swimming.

Kids love the water, which is great since Dane County has over 23,000 acres of water. With that much water surrounding us, it is important that kids know how to swim so they are prepared to face the potential dangers presented by bodies of water.  Swimming lessons at the Y are a great way for kids to develop a love of swimming while learning critical swim skills that they will use for their entire life. Swim lessons at the Y are structured to allow kids to progress as their skills progress and range from level 1 to 6.

Level 1-3 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
• Jump, push, turn, grab

1 / WATER ACCLIMATION Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water in stage 1. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming.

2 / WATER MOVEMENT In stage 2, 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.

3 / WATER STAMINA In stage 3, 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.

Level 4-6 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

4 / STROKE INTRODUCTION Students in stage 4 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

5 / STROKE DEVELOPMENT Students in stage 5 work on stroke technique and learn all major competitive strokes. The emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke.

6 / STROKE MECHANICS In stage 6, students refine stroke technique on all major competitive strokes, learn about competitive swimming and discover how to incorporate swimming into a healthy lifestyle.

Swim Stage Descriptions

*Prices Subject to Change