Roughing It Day Camp : Swimming Levels

All campers participate in formal American Red Cross lessons for beginners through advanced levels. On the first day of camp, all campers are evaluated by our staff and are divided into swim groups based on their abilities: younger campers may begin in Preschool & Kindergarten Aquatics with developmentally appropriate basic skill instruction; older beginner swimmers begin with Level 1 basic water safety skills. Level 2 - 4 focuses stoke development and technique for advanced beginner and intermediate swimmers. Level 5 & 6 challenge advanced swimmers with endurance building, diving and water rescue skills. See below for a full explanation of levels.

Teen campers participate in swim clinics such as water polo, synchronized swimming, water rescue and stroke improvement for advanced to novice swimmers. See Teen Swimming to learn more.

Preschool & Kindergarten Aquatics

Gives young children ages 4-5 a positive, developmentally appropriate aquatic learning experience that emphasizes water safety concepts and introductory swim skills. Skills are age-appropriate, helping participants achieve success on a regular basis while in a class environment with their peers.

Individualized instruction both one-on-one and in small groups help campers to gain confidence and basic swim skills to be water safe. Instructors utilize a variety of games and water activities teach basic swim skills and make swimming fun. Our goal is to get campers ready to successfully participate in the American Red Cross swim program.

Pre-K Aquatics Level 1
Helps young children feel comfortable in the water and to enjoy the water safely.

• Enter and exit water using ladder, steps or side	• Alternating and simultaneous arm actions on front & back
• Blowing bubbles through mouth and nose	• Combined arm and leg actions on front & back
• Submerging mouth, nose and eyes	• Staying safe around aquatic environments
• Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects	• Recognizing the lifeguards
• Front glide and recover to a vertical position	• Don’t just pack it, wear your jacket
• Back float and recover to a vertical position	• Recognizing an emergency
• Roll from front to back and back to front	• How to call for help
• Treading with arm and hand actions	• Too much sun is no fun
• Alternating and simultaneous leg actions on front & back

Pre-K Aquatics Level 2
Builds on skills learned in Level 1 and gives younger children success with fundamental skills such as floating and basic locomotion.

• Enter water by stepping in	• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Exit water using ladder, steps or side	• Finning arm action on back
• Bobbing	• Staying safe around aquatic environments
• Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects	• Recognizing the lifeguards
• Front and back floats and glides	• Don’t just pack it, wear your jacket
• Recover from a front and back float or glide to a vertical position	• Recognizing an emergency
• Roll from front to back and back to front	• How to call for help
• Tread water using arm and leg actions	• Too much sun is no fun

Pre-K Aquatics Level 3
Builds on the skills in Level 2 and improves younger children's coordination of simultaneous arm and leg actions and alternating arm and leg actions.

• Enter water by jumping in	• Finning arm action on back
• Fully submerging and holding breath	• Staying safe around aquatic environments
• Bobbing	• Don’t just pack it, wear your jacket
• Front, jellyfish and tuck floats	• Recognizing an emergency
• Back float and glide	• How to call for help
• Recover from a front and back float or glide to a vertical position	• Too much sun is no fun
• Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back	• Look before you leap
• Tread water using arm and leg actions	• Think so you don’t sink
• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back	• Reach or throw, don’t go

Learn to Swim Program

The American Red Cross offers a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate swimming and water safety program that teaches your child how to swim skillfully and safely, and think and act safely in, on and around the water. Based on a logical, six-level progression that helps swimmers of all ages and varying abilities develop their swimming and water safety skills. It is designed to give participants a positive learning experience. Instructors utilize a variety of games and water activities to teach swim skills and make swimming fun.

LEVEL 1: INTRODUCTION TO WATER SKILLS
Campers need no prior skills or swim experience. Individualized instruction both one-on-one and in small groups help campers to gain confidence and basic swim skills to be water safe. Campers are encouraged to learn at their own pace in order to become comfortable in the water.

• Enter and exit water using ladder, steps or side	• Alternating & simultaneous arm actions on front & back
• Blow bubbles through mouth and nose	• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Bobbing	• Staying safe around aquatic environments
• Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects	• Recognizing the lifeguards
• Front and back glides and back float	• Don’t just pack it, wear your jacket
• Alternating and simultaneous leg actions on front & back	• Recognizing an emergency
• Roll from front to back and back to front	• How to call for help
• Tread water using arm and hand actions	• Too much sun is no fun
• Recover to vertical position from a front glide and back float or glide

LEVEL 2: FUNDAMENTAL AQUATIC SKILLS
Gives campers success with fundamental swim skills.

• Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side	• Combined arm and leg actions on front and back
• Exit water using ladder, steps or side	• Finning arm action on back
• Fully submerge and hold breath	• Staying safe around aquatic environments
• Bobbing	• Don’t just pack it, wear your jacket
• Open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects	• Recognizing an emergency
• Front, jellyfish and tuck floats	• How to call for help
• Front and back glides and back float	• Too much sun is no fun
• Recover from a front and back float or glide to vertical position	• Look before you leap
• Roll from front to back and back to front	• Think so you don’t sink
• Change direction of travel while swimming on front or back	• Reach or throw, don’t go
• Tread water using arm and leg actions

LEVEL 3: STROKE DEVELOPMENT
Builds on the skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice in deeper waters.

• Enter water by jumping from the side	• Tread water
• Headfirst entry from side in sitting/kneeling positions	• Look before you leap
• Bobbing while moving toward safety	• Front crawl and elementary backstroke
• Rotary breathing	• Scissors kick
• Survival float	• Reach or throw, don’t go
• Back float	• Think twice before going near cold water or ice
• Change from vertical to horizontal position on front and back	• Push off in streamlined position then begin flutter and dolphin kicks on front

LEVEL 4: STROKE IMPROVEMENT
Develops confidence in the skills learned and improves other aquatic skills.

• Headfirst entry from the side	• Tread water using 2 different kicks
• Swim under water	• Look before you leap
• Feetfirst surface dive	• Reach or throw, don’t go
• Survival swimming	• Recreational water illnesses
• Front crawl and backstroke open turns	• Think so you don’t sink
• Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly	• Push off in a streamlined position then begin flutter and dolphin kicks on back

LEVEL 5: STROKE REFINEMENT
Provides further coordination and refinement of strokes.

• Shallow-angle dive from the side	• Wave, tide or ride, follow the guide
• Shallow-angle dive from side, glide and begin a front stroke	• Recreational water illnesses
• Tuck and pike surface dives	• Reach or throw, don’t go
• Front flip turn and backstroke flip turn while swimming	• Look before you leap
• Tread water	• Think so you don’t sink
• Standard scull on back	• Think twice before going near cold water or ice
• Front and back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly	• How to call for help and the importance of knowing first aid and CPR

LEVEL 6: SWIMMING AND SKILL PROFICIENCY
Refines the strokes so participants swim them with ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Level 6 is designed with options that focus on preparing campers for a lifetime of fitness & safety.

Fitness Swimmer

• Calculating target heart rate

• Demonstrating turns while swimming

• Demonstrating etiquette in fitness swimming

• Swimming 500 yards continuously using any 3 strokes, swimming at least 50 yards of each stroke

• Demonstrating various training techniques

• Demonstrating the principles of setting up a fitness program

• Performing the Cooper 12-minute swim test, and comparing results with the pre-assessment results

Personal Water Safety

• Introduction to Lifeguarding

• Swimming 500 yards continuously using any 3 strokes, swimming at least 50 yards of each stroke

• Jumping into deep water and performing a survival float for 5 minutes

• Rolling onto back and performing a back float for 5 minutes

• Performing a surface dive, retrieving an object from the bottom of the pool at a depth of 7-10 feet, returning to the
surface, and returning to the starting point

Fundamentals of Diving

• Swimming 500 yards continuously using any 3 strokes, swimming at least 50 yards of each stroke

• Performing a two-part takeoff with a feet-first entry from a 1-meter diving board

• Performing a two-part takeoff with a headfirst entry from a 1-meter diving board

• Basic stretching exercises for diving

• Body alignment and control

• Tuck and Pike diving positions