Swim Lessons

Your safety in and around the water is important to us! We offer swimming lessons all year round. View all swim lesson information and classes online in the leisure activities guide. We also have limited financial assistance if you qualify.

Important notice

We are changing our swim lesson format (just a little bit!) from Red Cross to Lifesaving Society (LSS) swim lessons beginning January 2019. Some benefits to you of switching are:

It will improve our swimmers core skills and each level is more attainable
Major municipalities like Woodstock, Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, entire GTA have already made the switch
There will be more job opportunities if you are looking to become a lifeguard or swim instructor. It's a great part time job with a great starting wage!
We find that swimmers are more successful and won't get stuck on certain levels any more

There are three modules very similar to Red Cross. The three LSS modules are:

Parent and Tot for parents and children up to three years of age (similar to Starfish, Duck and Sea Turtle)
Preschool for children 3 to 5 years (similar to Sea Otter thru Whale)
Swimmer for children five years and older (similar to Swim Kids 1 to 10)

How do I know what level to register my child in?

View the conversion chart to find out how to convert a Red Cross lesson into a LSS lesson or call us to schedule a free swim assessment.

Winter swimming lesson registration

Register online for swimming lessons beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday December 12, 2018. In-person registration is on Thursday, December 13 beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Makeup classes

We do not reschedule swimming lessons for personal reasons such as illness, vacations or sporting events.

Photography

We want you to capture the special moments by taking pictures, but not everyone wants to be in your picture. We will allow one day per session to take pictures, which will be on the last day of swimming lessons.

Preschoolers

If your child is not potty-trained, please make sure to dress them in pool-safe diapers (e.g. Little Swimmers). We sell these at the front desk but we have limited stock available. We will not allow regular diapers in the pool.

Stickers and certificate

We know kids love their stickers! Print off our Look What I Can Do certificate and collect stickers with your children as they progress through their swim lessons. It's a great way to keep them excited about working on their skills.

Private and semi-private swimming lessons

We offer private swimming lessons and semi-private swimming lessons are available.

Private Swimming Lessons

One-on-one swimming lessons are available throughout the week for swimmers ages three and older that need more attention to improve on their swimming skills. It is ideal for those that may move, learn, or communicate differently as well.

View our complete private swim lesson rate, ratio and length for ages three and up.

Private swim lesson rates
Rates	Class length	Classes	Ratio
$250 per person	30 minutes	10	1:1

Semi-Private Swimming Lessons

To set-up semi-private lessons (two swimmers to one instructor), you must do the following:

Register the first swimmer into a regular private lesson at the regular private lesson rate then;
Call us to register the second swimmer at an additional, reduced rate

Note: for safety reasons, the two swimmers being registered in the semi-private lessons, must be no greater than two levels apart (e.g. Swim Kids 1 and Swim Kids 3) unless pre-approved by the Aquatic Supervisor. We will not be able to permit a child ages three to six, to be in a semi-private lesson with a child that is capable of swimming 25m's or more of the pool.

View our semi-private swimming lessons rate, ratio and length for ages three and up.

Semi-private swimming lesson rates
Rates	Class length	Classes	Ratio
$115.00 per person (in addition to the private lesson fee of $255.00)	30 minutes	10	1:2

Swim classes

Parent and Tot 1 (4 to 12 months)

Your child will learn to enjoy being in the water with you in this class.

Parent and Tot 2 (12 to 24 months)

Your child will learn to enjoy being in the water with you in this class.

Parent and Tot 3 (2 to 3 years)

Your child will learn to enjoy being in the water with you in this class.

Preschool 1

Your preschooler will learn to get in and out of the water and jump into chest deep water. They will do floats and glides on their front and back, and learn to get their face wet and blow bubbles underwater.

Preschool 2

You're preschooler will learn to jump into chest deep water by themselves, and how to get in and get out wearing a lifejacket. They'll also submerge and exhale underwater. While they wear a lifejacket they'll glide on their front and back.

Preschool 3

Your child will try both jumping and a sideways entry into deep water while they wear a lifejacket and they'll recover objects from the bottom in waist-deep water. They'll also work on kicking and gliding through the water on their front and back.

Preschool 4

Your child will learn to do solo jumps into deeper water and how to get out by themselves. They'll do sideways entries and open their eyes underwater. They'll also master a short (5m) swim on their front wearing a lifejacket and gliding and kicking on their side.

Preschool 5

Your child will get more confident with a forward roll entry wearing a lifejacket and treading water for 10 sec. They'll work on front and back crawl swims for 5m, interval training and get a giggle out of whip kick.

Swimmer 1

Your child will become comfortable jumping into water with and without a lifejacket. They'll learn to open their eyes, exhale and hold their breath underwater. They'll also work on floats, glides and kicking through the water on their front and back.

Swimmer 2

Your child will learn to feel comfortable jumping into deeper water and learn to fall sideways into the water wearing a lifejacket. They'll also learn to support themselves on the surface without an aid, whip kick, swim 10m on their front and back, and we will introduce them to flutter kick interval training (4 x 5m).

Swimmer 3

Your child will dive and do front somersaults, and handstands in the water. They'll work on their front crawl for 15m, back crawl and whip kick for 10 m. Their flutter kick interval training will increase to 4 x 15m.

Swimmer 4

Your child will swim 5m underwater and complete lengths of front and back crawl, whip kick, and breaststroke arms with breathing. They will also finish the Canadian Swim to Survive^® Standard then finish with front crawl sprints over 25m and 4 x 25m front or back crawl interval training.

Swimmer 5

Your swimmer will master their shallow dives, cannonball entries, eggbeater kicks, and in-water backward somersaults. They'll refine their front and back crawl over 50m, and breaststroke over 25m. Then they'll pick up the pace doing 25m sprints and two interval training stints: 4 x 50m front or back crawl; and 4 x 15 m breaststroke.

Swimmer 6

Your swimmer will rise to the challenge of more advanced skills including stride entries, compact jumps and lifesaving kicks like eggbeater and scissor kick. They'll develop strength and power in head-up breaststroke sprints over 25 m. They'll easily swim lengths of front crawl, back crawl, and breaststroke, and complete a 300 m workout.

Rookie Patrol/Swimmer 7

Your swimmer will continue stroke development with 50 m swims of front crawl, back crawl and breaststroke. Lifesaving sport skills include a 25 m obstacle swim and 15 m object carry. First aid focuses on assessment of conscious victims, contacting EMS, and treatment for bleeding. Fitness improves in 350 m workouts and 100 m timed swims.

Ranger Patrol/Swimmer 8

Your swimmer will develop better strokes over 75 m swims of each stroke. They tackle lifesaving sport skills in a lifesaving medley, timed object support and rescue with a buoyant aid. First aid focuses on assessment of unconscious victims, treatment of victims in shock and obstructed airway procedures. Skill drills develop a strong lifesaving foundation.

Star Patrol/Swimmer 9

Your swimmer will be challenged with 600 m workouts, 300 m timed swims and a 25 m object carry. Strokes are refined over 100 m swims. First aid focuses on treatment of bone or joint injuries and respiratory emergencies including asthma and allergic reactions. Lifesaving skills include defense methods, victim removals and rolling over and supporting a victim face up in shallow water.

Adult Lessons

This program is designed for anyone 14 and over who would like to learn how to swim. Non-swimmers to beginners or if you just want to improve your strokes. This class suits all levels of swimmers. Find an upcoming class.

Silver Swimmers

It's never too late to improve your swimming or learn new techniques. This class is designed for non-swimmers or swimmers who want to improve. Enjoy 15 minutes in the warm water pool after class. Find an upcoming class.