Choosing the Right Swim Level

Below are the Red Cross guidelines for swim levels. Take a minute to look at the skills taught in each. If your child can do all (or all but one or two) of the tasks listed in a level, register your child in the next level up. And if you aren't sure, please call me. To ensure the best experience possible for your child, it is important to get them registered in the correct level.

Level 1 : Introduction to Water Skills- Age 4 and Up

 Purpose: Helps students feel comfortable in the water. Level 1 participants learn to:

  • Enter and exit water safely.
  • Submerge mouth, nose and eyes.
  • Exhale underwater through mouth and nose.
  • Open eyes underwater, pick up submerged object.
  • Change direction while walking or paddling.
  • Roll over from front to back and back to front with support.
  • Explore floating on front and back with support.
  • Explore swimming on front and back using arm and leg actions with support.
  • Use a life jacket.

Level 2 : Fundamental Aquatic Skills

 Purpose: Gives students success with fundamental skills. Level 2 participants learn to:

  • Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side.
  • Exit water safely using ladder or side.
  • Submerge entire head.
  • Blow bubbles submerging head in a rhythmic pattern (bobbing).
  • Open eyes underwater, pick up a submerged object in shallow water.
  • Float on front and back.
  • Perform front and back glide.
  • Change direction of travel paddling on front or back.
  • Roll over from front to back, back to front.
  • Tread water using arm and leg motions (chest-deep water).
  • Swim on front, back, and side using combined arm and leg actions.
  • Move in the water while wearing a life jacket.

Level 3 : Stroke Development

 Purpose: Builds on the skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice. Level 3 participants learn to:

  • Jump into deep water from the side.
  • Dive from kneeling or standing position.
  • Submerge and retrieve an object in chest deep water.
  • Bob with the head fully submerged.
  • Rotary breathing in horizontal position.
  • Perform front and back glide using two different kicks.
  • Float on front and back in deep water.
  • Change from horizontal to vertical position on front and back.
  • Tread water using hand and leg movements.
  • Perform front and back crawl.
  • Butterfly kick and body motion.
  • Perform the HELP and Huddle position.

Level 4 : Stroke Improvement

 Purpose: Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills. Level 4 participants learn to:

  • Perform a dive from a standing or stride position.
  • Swim underwater.
  • Perform feet-first surface dive.
  • Perform open turns on front and back.
  • Tread water using sculling arm motions and with different kicks.
  • Perform the following:
    • Front and back crawl
    • Breaststroke
    • Butterfly
    • Elementary backstroke
  • Swim on side using scissors-like kick.
  • Perform compact jump into water from a height while wearing a life jacket.

Level 5 : Stroke Refinement

 Purpose: Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes. Level 5 participants learn to:

  • Perform the following:
    • Standing dive
    • Shallow dive, glide two body lengths and begin any front stroke
    • Tuck surface dive
    • Pike surface dive
    • Front flip turn
    • Backstroke flip turn
    • Front and back crawl
    • Butterfly
    • Breaststroke
    • Elementary backstroke
    • Sidestroke
  • Tread water with two different kicks
  • Learn survival swimming

LEVEL 6, Option one: personal water safety

Purpose: Prepares student to take lifeguarding. Focuses on stroke improvement, treading water, and surface dives.

LEVEL 6, option two: fitness swimmer

Purpose: Prepares student to participate on a swim team. Focuses on stroke improvement, proper turns, using training equipment, and racing starts.

Parent/Child class

Developed for children 6 months to 3 years of age, these lessons build swimming readiness by emphasizing fun in the water. Parents and children  participate in several guided practice sessions that help children learn elementary skills, including water entry, bubble blowing, front kicking, back  floating, underwater exploration and more. 

adult swim

Class will be tailored to meet the needs of individual swimmers. Adults tend to have spotty swimming skills - good at floating maybe, but not at diving. Or they know the backstroke but not the breaststroke. Some swimmers wish only to improve their freestyle for participation in triathlons. We try to address what is needed for each adult swimmer.