Y Swimming

Mother and son at the pool

6-12 years

Whether your school-age child is a new swimmer or has been swimming circles around you, the Y swimming program offers a class that is just right for your child’s skill level. Classes are taught in a fun and positive environment by a qualified and caring swim instructor's.

This program takes the stepping-stone approach by building your child’s confidence in the area of personal growth, personal safety, stroke development, water sport, games, and rescue skills. Class placement in the Y swimming program is based on your child’s demonstrated water skills. Skill evaluations are conducted on the first day of class to ensure that your child is in the appropriate program level. If you are not certain of your child’s ability, you may contact your Aquatic Director to discuss your child’s skills. 

Y Swimming Locations

Polliwog

The objective of the Polliwog program is to equip the individual student with basic safety skills and knowledge to make them as safe as possible while in and around the water (nobody is truly safe in and around the water).

Guppy

This class is designed to help the student progress to the deep-water swimming. The emphasis is on developing skills already learned and helping the swimmer increase confidence in their skills.

Minnow

Prepares the student for additional training by introducing them to a series of skills designed to improve their endurance, coordination and ability to care for themselves while in the water. Skills development in Minnows emphasizes rotary breathing, back crawl, survival floating, front dive treading water, and sculling.

Fish

Instruction at the Fish level is designed to develop skill in the breast stroke, swimming and gliding underwater, diving off the side, and building endurance. The objective of this course is to provide the swimmer with the opportunity to develop good swimming skills.

Flying Fish

The Flying Fish class is designed to teach the swimmer new skills and increase their overall aquatic abilities, while increasing their endurance through a considerable amount of swimming.

Shark

The Shark program is designed to develop and perfect swim skills already learned. New skills introduced in this course are variations of the three basic swimming strokes previously taught. This provides new challenges to the swimmer they master these variations and learn how to instruct new students.

Fish/Flying Fish/Shark Combo Class

The Fish, Flying Fish, and Shark combined class is designed for those students wanting to enhanced their stroke technique for front crawl and backstroke. This class places three swimming levels into one and challenges students to learn teamwork, leadership and basic character values. The introduction and the development of more advanced strokes such as breaststroke and butterfly are a part of this, along with other strokes, both old and new. As with all YMCA Aquatic programs, friendly, knowledgeable and supportive staff and instructors.