Know Your Level

Our focus is on getting the children comfortable in the water. By learning through play, the swimmer will begin to understand buoyancy and balance, breath control, and propulsion. These three skills will help each student throughout the Learn to Swim Program.

Below, you'll see a detailed explanation of each level and what we will be teaching in each class.

VIEW OUR CURRENT AQUATICS PROGRAMS

For questions or to schedule a swim assessment, Contact Jodi Lovenwirth, Aquatics Director, at 610-435-3571 or [email protected].

Baby
“Mommy and Me” Caregiver and Baby Class

Ages 6 months to 36 months

Primary Goal: Be comfortable in the water and build trust.

Skills Taught:

  • Comfort in the water on their bellies and backs
  • Monkey walking on the wall
  • Bubbles
  • Arm and leg movements
  • Assisted jumps

 

Bubbler | Level One
Self Safety Skills

Primary Goal: Build water comfortability, learn body autonomy in the water

Skills Taught:

  • Social skills with coach
  • Entering and exiting the pool safely on their own
  • Pool rules and why they are important
  • Monkey walking on the wall
  • Relaxing in the water (sleepy float)
  • Floating with support
  • Bubbles for five seconds
  • Supported kicking
  • Completely submerge head
  • Assisted and unassisted rollovers
  • Rocket ships

Skills to move to next level:

  • Safely enter and exit
  • Water comfortability (goggles, mouth/nose, ears)
  • 5 second continuous nose bubbles
  • 10 second independent back float
  • 5 second independent belly float
  • Rolling from back into belly float

 

Wethead | Level Two
Introduction to Swimming

Primary Goal: Swim on front and back with arms and legs unsupported for 15 feet.

Skills Taught:

  • Life saving skills / independence
  • Bobbing, blowing bubbles with submersion five times
  • Kicks (straight legs, pointy toes, top but not out of water)
  • Arm strokes, Belly and Back
  • Jump in and swim to wall
  • Retrieve object under water
  • Roll over front to back
  • Treading
  • Streamline
  • Rocketships, Back and Belly
  • Sit dives

Skills to move to next level:

  • Independence (jumping in and swimming back to wall)
  • Propelling kick, Belly and Back
  • Understanding of unassisted arm strokes, Belly and Back
  • Rocketships, Belly and Back
  • Sit dive with propelling kick
  • Tread water, 30 seconds

 

Tadpole | Level Three
Stroke Development

Primary Goal: Swim correct freestyle and backstroke

Skills Taught:

  • Deep water comfortability
  • Submerge and retrieve object from chest-deep water
  • Rotary breathing
  • Deep water independence
  • Treading in deep water for 1 minute
  • Strengthen kick
  • Correct stroke technique
  • Kneeling dives

Skills to move to next level:

  • Jump in deep water and swim to side
  • Deep water tread, 1 minute
  • Rotary breathing
  • Freestyle (full length of indoor pool, assisted)
  • Backstroke (full length of indoor pool, assisted)

 

Seal | Level Four
Stroke Enhancement

Primary Goal: Legal Freestyle and backstroke, start breaststroke and butterfly

Skills Taught:

  • Dive from compact or stride position
  • Jump off block
  • Dolphin kick
  • Breastroke kick
  • Swim underwater for three body lengths
  • Open turn
  • Tread water, kick only, 1 minute
  • Intro to front and back flip turns

Skills to move to next level:

  • Freestyle (full length, unassisted)
  • Backstroke (full length, unassisted)
  • Breastroke kick
  • Butterfly kick
  • Open turns

 

Porpoise | Level Five
Stroke Refinement

Primary Goal: Swim team prep, increased endurance, full breaststroke and butterfly

Skills Taught:

 

  • Racing dive from side of the pool
  • Glide two body lengths
  • Swim freestyle and breaststroke
  • Breathe control
  • Swim underwater for 15 yards
  • Flip turns for freestyle and backstroke
  • Breaststroke arms
  • Butterfly arms
  • Circle swimming
  • Reading the clock
  • Lap terminology

Skills to move to next level:

  • 50 yards freestyle (with flip turn)
  • 50 yards backstroke (with flip turn)
  • 25 yards Breaststroke
  • 25 yards Butterfly
  • Dive into 25 of freestyle

 

Whale | Level Six
JSeal in Training

Primary Goal: Perfect all strokes, Increased endurance

Skills Taught:

  • Freestyle and backstroke 100 yards with competitive flip turns
  • Butterfly and breaststroke 50 yards with competitive open turns
  • Treading water with kick only for two minutes
  • Stroke mechanics and drills
  • Complete individual medley
  • Dive off block

Swim Team & Clinics

Our unique swim team offers just the right blend of stroke training, endurance training, and competition guided by an experienced and certified coach. Our goal is for each child to become more confident in his or her ability, develop teamwork skills, promote commitment and dedication, and to have fun in a safe aquatic atmosphere.

The Swim Team is open to everyone. All swimmers must be between ages 5 and 15, at least level 4 (Seal), and be able to swim all four competitive strokes.

Swim Team practices occur four times per week with varying practice times to better fit your scheduling needs. Swimmers also participate in various swim meets, both traveling and home.

For swimmers who want the training without the competition, Swim Clinics would be a great fit. Clinics typically run in the spring and fall.

LEARN MORE

Looking for something more specialized?

Try our private and group lessons - The JCC of the Lehigh Valley can accommodate your swim lesson needs. Private lessons are one-on-one with a certified instructor while Semi-Private and Group allows you to book more than one student so that they may learn together.

It’s proven that young swimmers learn quicker with the support of a friend or family member beside them.

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