Programs
Lessons at a glance
Lesson Set 1
July 2-5 & 9-12
Lesson Set 2
July 16-19 & 23-26
Lesson Set 3
Aug 6-9 & 13-16
Lesson Set 4
Aug 13-16 & 20-23
Evening Lessons
Lesson Set 1
July 2-25
Lesson Set 3
July 30- Aug 22
Lifesaving Society’s Swim for Life® swimming lessons
The Lifesaving Society has a proven and reputable swim lesson program! The Swim for Life® program has been teaching Canadians to swim for 20 years. Built on the principles of success, fun, and healthy active living, the program is creating competent and safe swimmers.
PARENT & TOT 1, 2, 3 for parents and children 4 months – 3 years
PRESCHOOL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for children 3 – 5 years
SWIMMER 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for children 6 – 15 years
ROOKIE, RANGER, STAR for children 12 – 15 years
ADULT SWIMMER 1, 2, 3 for people 16 years+
Transferring from another program and not sure what level to pick?
Here’s a document that compares levels from different programs.
PARENT & TOT
For infants aged 4 months – 3 years at the time of the course
Splish! Splash! Laugh! Water can be so much fun! The parent and child are in the water together for this class led by a certified instructor. Spend quality time together while you have fun, learning, moving in the water and socializing. Through structured in-water interaction between parent and child, we stress the importance of play in developing water positive attitudes and skills. We provide Lifesaving Society Water Smart® tips on keeping your child safe in aquatic settings, and instructors provide guidance with answers to your questions. The activities, progressions, and skills are based on the child’s developmental age.
Register your child according to their age at the time of the lesson:
Recommended age: 4 months – 3 years
Parent and Tot 1 (4 – 12 months): Learn to enjoy the water with the parent.
Parent and Tot 2 (1 – 2 years): Learn to enjoy the water with the parent.
Parent and Tot 3 (2 – 3 years): Learn to enjoy the water with the parent.
PRESCHOOL
For children aged 3 – 5 years at the time of the course
Give your child a head start on learning to swim. The Lifesaving Society Preschool program develops an appreciation and healthy respect for the water. Our aquatic progressions work to ensure 3 – 5 year olds become comfortable in the water and have fun acquiring and developing a foundation of water skills. We incorporate Lifesaving Society Water Smart® education in all preschool levels.
Register your child according to their previous swimming level (see chart) or current swimming ability:
Recommended age: 3 – 5 years
Preschool 1: These preschoolers will have fun learning to get in and out of the water. They’ll have fun getting their face wet, blowing bubbles, jumping, floating, and gliding.
Preschool 2: These preschoolers learn to jump into chest deep water by themselves and get in and out while wearing a lifejacket. They’ll explore submerging and exhaling underwater. While wearing a lifejacket, they’ll glide on their front and back.
Preschool 3: These youngsters will try both jumping and a sideways entry into deep water while wearing a lifejacket. They’ll recover objects from the bottom in waist-deep water. They’ll work on kicking and gliding through the water on their front and back.
Preschool 4: Advanced preschoolers will learn to do solo jumps into deeper water and get out by themselves. They’ll do sideways entries and open their eyes underwater. They’ll master a short (5 m) swim on their front wearing a lifejacket and gliding and kicking on their side.
Preschool 5: These youngsters get more adventurous with a forward roll entry wearing a lifejacket and treading water for 10 sec. They’ll work on front and back crawl swims (5 m), interval training, and get a giggle out of trying the whip kick.
SWIMMER
For youth aged 6 – 15 years at the time of the course
The Lifesaving Society’s Swimmer program teaches absolute beginners as well as swimmers who want to build on the basics with progressions. In-water practice develops solid swimming strokes and skills while we incorporate Lifesaving Society Water Smart® education in every Swimmer level.
Register your child according to their previous swimming level (see chart) or current swimming ability:
Recommended age: 6 –15 years
Swimmer 1: These beginners 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 work on floats, glides, and kicking through the water on their front and back.
Swimmer 2: These advanced beginners learn to jump into deeper water and to be comfortable falling sideways into the water wearing a lifejacket. They’ll be able to support themselves at the surface without an aid, learn whip kick, swim (10 m) on their front and back, and be introduced to flutter kick interval training (4 x 5 m).
Swimmer 3: These junior swimmers dive, do in-water front somersaults, and handstands. They’ll work on 15 m of front crawl, back crawl, and 10 m of whip kick. Flutter kick interval training increases to 4 x 15 m.
Swimmer 4: These intermediate swimmers swim underwater and lengths of front, back crawl, whip kick, and breaststroke arms with breathing. Their new bag of tricks includes the completion of the Canadian Swim to Survive® standard. They’ll cap it all off with front crawl sprints (25 m) and front or back crawl interval training (4 x 25 m).
Swimmer 5: These swimmers master shallow dives, cannonball entries, eggbeater kicks, and in-water backward somersaults. They’ll refine their front and back crawl (50 m) swims and breaststroke (25 m). They’ll pick up the pace in 25 m sprints and two interval training bouts: 4 x 50 m front or back crawl, and 4 x 15 m breaststroke.
Swimmer 6: These advanced swimmers rise to the challenge of sophisticated aquatic 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 (25 m). They’ll easily swim lengths of front crawl, back crawl, and breaststroke as well as the 300 m workout.
ADULT SWIM
Register according to your previous swimming level or current swimming ability:
Recommended age: 16+ years
Work with certified instructors to learn the basics and improve your current swimming ability. You’ll develop water confidence and smooth recognizable strokes. We incorporate Lifesaving Society Water Smart® education in all adult levels.
Adult 1: Learn water confidence with the basics. Floats, glides, rhythmic breathing, and kicking. You’ll work towards a 10 – 15 m swim on your front and back. Explore different ways to get in and out of the pool and even recover an object from the bottom. Improve your fitness and your flutter kick with 4 x 9 – 12 m interval training.
Adult 2: Kick it up a notch and build skills and endurance to perform two different interval training workouts of 4 x 25 m kicking and front or back crawl. You’ll learn dive entries and breaststroke arms. Support yourself at the surface for 1 – 2 minutes and try a shallow water handstand.
Adult 3: Learn to master the eggbeater, stride entries, and a compact jump. A 300 m workout and 25 – 50 m sprints will get your heart pumping. Master front crawl, back crawl, and breaststroke. Whew! What a great class!