Let's SWIM!

Strong Swimmers = Confident Kids Thanks to Family YMCA of Emporia-Greensville Swim Lessons

Updated lessons help swimmers of all ages and skills develop a lifelong love of swimming

May is National Water Safety Month, and the perfect time to get children involved in swim lessons. As America’s Swim Instructor, the Y is the most accessible community resource to prevent drowning and encourage a lifelong enjoyment of swimming—teaching more than one million kids a year swimming and water safety skills.

This year, the Family YMCA of Emporia-Greensville updated its lessons to increase the accessibility and enjoyment of swimming to all ages and skill levels. The latest evolution of Y Swim Lessons accommodates varying abilities to help foster a sense of achievement as swimmers’ progress between levels. Through this approach, advanced swimmers flow more easily to higher levels while swimmers who need more instruction can learn at their own pace. This results in more confident swimmers who stick with lessons and develop a love for swimming that can last a lifetime. Starting this year, each swim lesson session will be taught for two weeks (four days per week for two weeks).

“We want swim lessons to be a rite of passage for ALL children; helping kids stay safe in and around the water while developing a love of swimming,” said Lance Futrell, Program Director, Family YMCA of Emporia-Greensville. Through our latest approach to swim lessons, kids of all ages can progress at their own pace while building the confidence needed to become a successful swimmer.

There are three general categories of Y Swim Lessons

1. Swim Starters develops water enrichment and aquatic readiness in children ages 6 months to 3 years. This category focuses on developing swim readiness skills through fun and confidence-building experiences. Parents also learn how to supervise children in the water, how to prevent accidents and how to plan for emergencies. A parent or guardian will be required to be in the water at all times with the student.
2. Swim Basics develops personal water safety and basic swimming skills in students of school age up to age 12. Swimmers develop a high level of comfort in the water by practicing safe water habits, engaging in underwater exploration, and learning how to swim to safety and exit if they fall into a body of water.
3. Swim Strokes introduces and refines stroke technique in students (school age up to age 12). 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 and foster a lifetime of physical activity.

 Click here to register for swim lessons online!

Click here to download a swim lesson registration form to complete and bring to Y to register.

The Y introduced the concept of group swim lessons in 1909. Now, each year in more than 2,000 pools across the country, the Y teaches more than a million children from all backgrounds invaluable water safety and swim skills.

About the Y
The Y is one of the nation’s leading nonprofits strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Across the U.S., 2,700 Ys engage 22 million men, women and children – regardless of age, income or background – to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the nation’s health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support neighbors. Anchored in more than 10,000 communities, the Y has the long-standing relationships and physical presence not just to promise, but to deliver, lasting personal and social change.