Swim Level and Skills

Campus Recreation’s swim lessons program is designed to promote aquatic safety and progression through private, one-on-one instruction. Our primary goal is to teach participants to swim to the best of their ability in a safe and fun environment.

For recreation members ages 6 and up with any skill level (from beginners to swimmers with skill proficiency who want to work on stroke development and endurance), private swim lessons are taught by experienced student instructors with a consistent model of progression. As participants work through the sessions, they will become safer, better swimmers.

We strive to provide the highest quality instruction with a strong emphasis on water safety. Becoming safe in the water and learning to swim are essential skills. Campus Recreation believes swimming is a valuable lifelong skill and a healthy, recreational activity. 

Swim Levels

Level 1 - Exploring the Water

Learn skills to feel more comfortable in the water and develop good swimming habits and safe practices around the water. 

  • Introduction to water, emphasizing comfort and safety
  • Elementary aquatic skills are introduced – entering and exiting the water, submerging mouth, nose and eyes, blowing bubbles through the mouth and nose, bobbing in the water, front and back floating, beginning to learn front and back swimming using arms and legs, retrieving objects underwater
  • Learning how to stay safe and knowing how to call for help
  • Prerequisite – none; cannot do anything unsupported

Level 2 - Fundamental Aquatic Skills

Become successful with basic fundamental water skills.

  • Front and back glides and floats
  • Jellyfish and tuck floats
  • Treading water with arm and leg actions
  • Developing swimming with the front and back crawl
  • Entering the water by jumping or stepping from the side
  • Learn how to stay safe, including recognizing an emergency, knowing how to call for help and perform simple non-swimming assists
  • Prerequisites – can do some skills unsupported, even if for only a few seconds, can submerge mouth, nose and eyes and blow bubbles and is comfortable doing so

Level 3 - Stroke Development

Build on skills from Level 2 and develop strokes through additional guided practice in deeper water. 

  • Submerge and retrieve objects
  • Treading water using the scissors kick
  • Coordinate the front crawl and back crawl
  • Survival float
  • Flutter, scissor, dolphin and breaststroke kicks on front
  • Head-first entries from the side – kneeling and sitting positions
  • Non-swimming assists
  • Prerequisites – can swim on front and back unsupported for at least 15 feet with alternating arm action and continuous kicking; can float and glide unsupported and bob fully submerged at least 5 times continuously

Level 4 - Stroke Improvement

Develop confidence, coordination and strength in the strokes learned in Level 3 and improve other aquatic skills.

  • Coordination and control in all six strokes (front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, butterfly, elementary backstroke and sidestroke)
  • Swimming underwater
  • Feet first surface dive
  • Treading water using 2 different kicks
  • Open turns
  • Head first entries from the side
  • Prerequisites – can swim front crawl at least 15 yards, back crawl 15 yards and butterfly kick, breaststroke kick at least 15 yards; can do kneeling dive and tread water for at least 30 seconds

Level 5 - Stroke Refinement

Build on coordination and improve all strokes. 

  • Refinement of all six strokes (front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, butterfly, elementary backstroke and sidestroke)
  • Flip turns on front and back
  • Sculling
  • Tuck and pike surface dives
  • Swimming longer distances
  • Prerequisites – can swim front crawl with rotary breathing and back crawl at least 25 yards, breaststroke, butterfly, elementary backstroke and sidestroke at least 15 yards; strokes should have all the elements and only need refinement; can do standing dive and tread water at least one minute

Level 6 - Stroke Perfection and Swimming Proficiency

Refine strokes so participants swim with ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Level 6 is designed with options that focus on preparing swimmers to participate in more advanced activities, including fitness swimmer, personal water safety & lifeguard readiness.

  • Flip turns, treading water and head-first entries are practiced to achieve proficiency
  • Swimmers build endurance by swimming longer distances
  • Prerequisites – can swim front crawl and back crawl at least 50 yards and all other strokes at least 25 yards; technique in all the strokes should be strong with good coordination; can do flip turns, shallow dives and tread water for at least 2 minutes

For more information about private swim lessons, contact Coordinator Alexis Gross at alexisgross@umass.edu