Swim Lessons at the South Shore YMCA
The South Shore YMCA swim programs offer the area’s very best in water safety education and swim instruction, with Swim Lessons for everyone, from infants to adults. The Y is “America’s Swim Instructor” and, at the South Shore YMCA, each swimmer develops the swim and water safety skills needed throughout every stage of life, helping children and adults enjoy a lifelong love of swimming safely.
SWIM STARTERS | PARENT/CHILD LESSONS
4 months – 3 years
South Shore YMCA “Swim Starters” parent/child program is a powerfully effective, learn-to-swim program that teaches babies 4 months old to 3 years old — along with their parents or caregivers — how to swim and be safe in the water. Accompanied by a parent or caregiver, infants and toddlers learn to be comfortable and safe in the water, and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences, while parents learn about water safety, drowning prevention, and the importance of supervision in the water. Children transition to learning the four competitive swim strokes as they prepare to move on to Swim Basics.
Parent-child swim lessons are free for South Shore YMCA household members.
| Stage | Age | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| STAGE A | WATER DISCOVERY | 4 months - 1 year | 30 Minutes. Parents or caregivers accompany children in Stage A, which introduces infants and toddlers to the aquatic environment through exploration and encourages them to enjoy themselves while learning about and beginning to move in and under water. |
| STAGE B | WATER EXPLORATION | 1 year - 3 years | 30 Minutes. In Stage B, parents work with their children to explore body positions, floating, movement on their front, backs, sides, and under water, while developing fundamental safety and aquatic skills. |
| STAGE C | WATER ACCLIMATION (Parent/Child) | 2.5 years - 3 years | 30 Minutes. Students work with a parent or caregiver to develop comfort with underwater exploration, movement on their front, backs and sides, while also learning to safely enter and exit the pool on their own. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming independently. |
SWIM BASICS | PRESCHOOL & YOUTH
3 years – 12 years
In Swim Basics, swimmers ages 4-12 learn personal water safety and achieve swimming competency by learning benchmark skills of independent swimming. Our Y swim instruction program is designed to allow each swimmer to start and progress at the time and pace that is right for the individual. Whether your swimmer needs to learn water safety and strengthen skills for recreational swimming or is considering a path towards competitive swimming at any age, the South Shore YMCA is the place to start and grow.
| Stage | Preschool | Youth | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWIM BASICS - STAGE 1 ACCLIMATION | 3-5 years | 6-12 years | 30 Minutes. Focused on building confidence in the water, this course teaches how to enter and exit the pool safely, putting face in, blowing bubbles, and bobs. Ready position, pools rules and water safety are also introduced. |
| SWIM BASICS - STAGE 2 MOVEMENT | 3-5 years | 6-12 years | 30 Minutes. Swimmers build on the skills learned in Level 1, focusing on floating on front and back. They will learn gliding, streamline position, kicking and rolling from front to back float. Swimmers continue work on pool safety and rules as well as confidence. |
| SWIM BASICS - STAGE 3 STAMINA | 3-5 years | 6-12 years | 30 Minutes. Swimmers build proficiency with front and back glide, continue flutter kicks, breathing control and rotary breathing prep. Swimmers will be able to jump in the water, push off the bottom, return to the wall and safely exit the pool at this level. |
| SWIM STROKES - STAGE 4 STROKE INTRODUCTION | 3-5 years | 30 Minutes. Swimmers 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. |
Swim Strokes and Swim Squad
Ages 6 – 14
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, foster a lifetime of physical activity, and give interested students a taste of competitive training, without the competition.
| Stage | Age | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| SWIM STROKES - STAGE 4 STROKE INTRODUCTION | 6-12 Years | 40 Minutes. 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. |
| SWIM STROKES - STAGE 5 STROKE DEVELOPMENT | 6-12 Years | 40 Minutes. 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. |
| SWIM STROKES - STAGE 6 STROKE MECHANICS | 6-12 Years | 40 Minutes. 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 SQUAD | 10-14 Years | 60 Minutes. This will focus on building the strength and endurance of the swimmer's stroke through drills, multiple laps, and on-deck coaching. Swim Squad will allow swimmers to get the feeling of being on a swim team without the competition and be able to further their skills to be fit swimmers now and in the future. |
Teens & Adult Swim Lessons
It is never too late to learn to swim, or to take lessons to improve and strengthen technique and water safety skills. The South Shore YMCA offers swim lessons for all ages and abilities, to ensure our community can become water safe and develop a lifelong love of the water at any age.
| Program | Age | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Teen/Adult Beginner | 13+ | 45 Minutes. For teens and adults who consider themselves non-swimmers or wish to overcome a fear of the water, this program will help gain basic aquatic skills and swimming strokes. Includes water acclimation, floating, front/back crawl and backstroke. |
| Teen/Adult Advanced | 13+ | 45 Minutes. Improve your crawl stroke, backstroke and breaststroke as well as treading water, diving and endurance swimming. |
YMCA Swim Lesson Selector
Looking to see where your swimmer should begin or advance on their swim lesson journey? Download and review our YMCA Swim Lesson Selector for details. lesson selector
Private/Semi-Private Swim Lessons
Private lessons are a great way to work on specific, participant-directed goals with devoted attention from an instructor. The SSYMCA offers one-to-one private lessons in 30 minute sessions for members and non-members ages 4 and up. Semi private lessons (two participants to one instructor) are also available.
- Ages 3-Adult
- 30 Minutes
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SEARCH & REGISTEREveryone can afford swim lessons
Ask our team about Financial Assistance for Y swim lessons and other programs, available through the generosity of our members and donors through our Annual Fund
Financial Assistance