Learn to Swim

Spring 2024 Learn to Swim Small Group Lesson Schedule

  • Spring Session 2: February 12 - March 23
  • Spring Session 3: March 25 - April 26
Day Time Class
Monday 6 - 6:30 PM Pre-School 2
Monday 6:45 - 7:15 PM
School Age 2
Wednesday 6:15 - 6:45 PM
Pre-School 1
Wednesday 7 - 7:30 PM
School Age 1
Thursday 6:15 - 6:45 PM
Parent/Child
Thursday 7 - 7:30 PM
Pre-School 1
  • Small Group Lessons are not offered during the summer months. Please check back to this web page in the fall for a schedule of lesson times and other details.
  • In-person registration is available at the Student Recreation Center Welcome Desk.
  • Online registration is processed through the BGSU RecWell app for iPhone or android, or online using the MyRec portal: https://myrec.bgsu.edu/
    • BGSU Students, Faculty & Staff: When logging in, select ‘BGSU MyRec Login’ and use your BGSU username and password.
    • Community Members: Select 'Community Members' and login using your assigned username and password.
    • If you have not yet been assigned a password, please complete the MyRec Account Request Form. Allow two business days for a personal response with account set up instructions.
    • If any level does not meet the enrollment requirement by the registration deadline, Recreation and Wellness reserves the right to combine multiple levels, suggest private or small group lessons, or cancel lessons.
    • Lesson participants must adhere to all Department of Recreation and Wellness Policies and BGSU’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols.
  • Partial refunds for scheduling conflicts, illnesses, or other reasons are not offered.

Level Information

Parents and children learn together to increase a child's comfort level in the water and build a foundation of basic skills, such as arm and leg movements and breath control. The course is fun-filled and introduces water safety concepts, encouraging a healthy recreational habit that your entire family can enjoy.

Provides experiences and activities for children to:

  • Learn to ask for permission before entering the water.
  • Establish expectation for adult supervision.
  • Learn how to enter and exit the water in a safe manner.
  • Feel comfortable in the water.
  • Explore submerging to the mouth, nose and eyes and fully submerging.
  • Explore submerging in a rhythmic pattern.
  • Explore buoyancy on the front and back position.
  • Glide on the front and back with assistance.
  • Perform combined stroke on front and back with assistance.
  • Change body position in the water.
  • Learn how to play safely.
  • Experience wearing a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket. Plus age-appropriate water safety topics.

One parent/guardian is required to be in the water with students in Parent/Child to ensure participants stay in their designated area, hold, support, help with various strokes and games, and take part in the activities we do.

 

Throughout the three levels, preschool-age children are taught basic aquatic safety and swimming skills, all the while increasing their comfort level in and around the water. Skills are age-appropriate, helping children achieve success on a regular basis and enjoy social interactions with other children. As in all Swimming and Water Safety courses, your child will always know that it’s safety first.

Level 1 - Orients children to the aquatic environment and helps them gain basic aquatic skills.

  • Enter water using ramp, steps or side
  • Exit water using ladder, steps or side
  • Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
  • Submerge mouth, nose and eyes
  • Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
  • Front glide and recover to a vertical position
  • Back glide and recover to a vertical position
  • Back float
  • Roll from front to back and back to front
  • Tread with arm and hand actions
  • Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on front
  • Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on back
  • Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Level 2 - Helps children gain greater independence in their skills and develop more comfort in and around water. Students begin to gain basic swimming propulsive skills.

  • Enter water by stepping in from a deck or low height
  • Exit water using ladder, steps or side
  • Bobbing
  • Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
  • Front float
  • Back glide and float and recover to a vertical position
  • Roll from front to back and back to front
  • Tread water using arm and leg actions
  • Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
  • Finning arm action on back
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics
  • Enter water by jumping in
  • Fully submerge and hold breath
  • Rotary breathing
  • Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
  • Front and back float or glide and recover to a vertical position
  • Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
Students must demonstrate competency in all skills presented before advancing to the next level.

Designed to help participants achieve maximum success, Learn-to-Swim courses are based on a logical, six-level progression that helps swimmers of varying ages and abilities develop their water safety, survival and swim skills. 

Introduction to Water Skills - Helps participants feel comfortable in the water.

Course Pre-Requisite: Must meet age requirements. No swim skills necessary.

  • Enter water using ramp, steps or side
  • Exit water using ladder, steps or side
  • Blow bubbles through mouth and nose
  • Bobbing
  • Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
  • Front and back glides and recover to a vertical position
  • Back float
  • Roll from front to back and back to front
  • Tread water using arm and hand actions
  • Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on front
  • Alternating and simultaneous arm and leg actions on back
  • Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Exit Skills Requirements: Must demonstrate competency completing the following skills with the assistance of an instructor:

  1. Enter the water independently, travel at least 5 yards, bob 3 times under water, and safely exit the water.
  2. Glide on the front for at least 2 body lengths, roll to a back float for 3 seconds, and recovers to a vertical position.

Fundamental Aquatic Skills - Gives participants success with fundamental skills.    

Course Pre-Requisite: Must meet age requirements and pass level 1 exit skills test.

  • Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side    
  • Exit water using ladder, steps or side
  • Fully submerge and hold breath    
  • Bobbing
  • Open eyes underwater and retrieve submerged objects
  • Rotary breathing    
  • Front, jellyfish and tuck floats
  • Back glide and recover to a vertical position 
  • Front glide and recover to vertical position    
  • Roll from front to back and back to front    
  • Tread water using arm and leg actions    
  • Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back
  • Combined arm and leg actions on front and back        
  • Finning arm action
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Exit Skills Requirements: Must demonstrate competency to complete the following skills without assistance from an instructor. Students exiting level 2 for level 3 must effectively pass exit skills testing, swim independently, and demonstrate the muscular endurance & maturity necessary to begin stroke development.

  1. Step from side into chest deep water, move into a front float for 5 seconds, roll to back, float for 5 seconds then return to a vertical position.
  2. Move into a back float for 5 seconds, roll to front then recover to vertical position.
  3. Push off and swim using combined arm and leg action on the front for 5 body lengths, roll to back, float for 15 seconds, roll to the front then continue swimming for 5 body lengths.

Stroke Development  - Builds on the skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice in deeper water.    

Course Pre-Requisite: Must meet age requirements, successfully pass level 2 exit skills tests, swim independently, and demonstrate the muscular endurance & maturity necessary to begin stroke development.

  • Enter water by jumping from the side, fully submerge then recover to the surface and return to the side    
  • Headfirst entries from the side in sitting and kneeling positions    
  • Bobbing while moving toward safety
  • Rotary breathing    
  • Back float    
  • Survival float        
  • Change from vertical to horizontal position on front and back
  • Tread water    
  • Flutter and dolphin kicks on front        
  • Scissors and breaststroke kicks    
  • Front crawl and elementary backstroke
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Exit Skills Requirements:

  1. Jump into deep water from the side, swim front crawl for 15 yards, maintain position by treading or floating for 30 seconds and swim elementary backstroke for 15 yards.

Stroke Improvement  - Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills.    

Course Pre-Requisite: Must meet age requirements and successfully pass level 3 stroke performance exit skills tests.

  • Headfirst entries from the side in compact and stride positions
  • Swim underwater
  • Feet first surface dive
  • Survival swimming        
  • Open turns on front and back        
  • Tread water using 2 different kicks            
  • Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly    
  • Flutter and dolphin kicks on back        
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Exit Skills Requirements:

  1. Perform a feet first entry into deep water, swim front crawl for 25 yards, change direction and position as necessary and swim elementary backstroke for 25 yards.
  2. Swim breast stroke for 15 yards, change position and direction as necessary and swim back crawl for 15 yards.

Stroke Refinement  - Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes.        

Course Pre-Requisite: Must meet age requirements and successfully pass level 4 stroke performance exit skills tests.

  • Shallow-angle dive from the side then glide and begin a front stroke
  • Tuck and pike surface dives, submerge completely    
  • Front flip turn and backstroke flip turn while swimming
  • Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly            
  • Sculling       
  • Plus age-appropriate water safety topics

Exit Skills Requirements:

  1. Perform shallow angle dive into deep water, swim front crawl for 50 yards, change direction and position as necessary and swim elementary backstroke for 50 yards.
  2. Swim breast stroke for 25 yards, change direction and position as necessary and swim back crawl for 25 yards.
Students must pass a swim test of 50 yards held at the start of each session in order to take this class.

During class, divers learn beginner diving techniques, including diving stretches, a progression of feet first and headfirst entries from the wall and diving board, and how to be safe while diving. Basic skills developed in this class include straight jumps and dives, tuck jumps and dives, and pike jumps and dives from the wall and diving board. Classes progress at the pace of each diver based on readiness and desire, and some divers might not be ready to progress to certain skills.

Additional skills taught include a basic hurdle approach, proper hand placement, and diving board safety. If a diver demonstrates proficiency in the basic skills, intermediate skills such as flips, and back dives may be introduced. The ultimate goal of every class is to be safe, have fun, and progress and hone each student's diving skills. Ideally each diver learns at their own pace and falls in love with diving, taking their skills to our partners, the Falcon Dive Club to grow further

For those who graduate from our Basic Diving Class or who already have diving experience and are looking for more advances lessons, please contact the Falcon Dive Club at tngrant@bgsu.edu

Small Group

Five 30-Minute Lessons
SRC Members: $90
Non-SRC Members: $100

Typically class sizes range between 5 and 10 swimmers.

Private

Six 30-Minute Lessons
SRC Member: $150
Non-Member: $195

Only offered to ages 3 and up.

Semi-Private

Six 30-Minute Lessons
SRC Member: $110
Non-Member: $145

Only offered to ages 3 and up in groups of 2/3 at the same swimming level. Groups must register together.

Private and Semi-Private Swim Lessons

Offered to ages 3 and up (including adults of any age), to those who prefer a more individualized approach. Private lessons offer one-on-one, specialized instruction, while semi-private lessons include a group of 2 or 3 students (group must register together) of similar swimming levels and abilities. Complete the form below to request private or semi-private lessons. An Aquatics staff member will follow-up to finalize lesson times and match you with an available instructor.  

Private and Semi-Private Lessons Request Form

Head of Household Gender - Female or male must be indicated in order to rent a locker.:

Head of Household BGSU Affiliation:

Dependent - Participant 1 Gender:

Dependent - Participant 2 Gender:

Dependent - Participant 3 Gender:

Private or Semi-Private:



Patrons or guests with disabilities are requested to indicate if special services, assistance, or appropriate modifications are needed to fully participate. Contact Accessibility Services at access@bgsu.edu or 419.372.8495 prior to the program or event

Patron requested refunds may be subject to a $25.00 administrative fee. Check payments returned for any reason are subject to a $30 service charge.

Updated: 02/14/2024 12:27PM