Swim Lessons
The Y is “America’s Swim Instructor” and the most accessible community resource to prevent drowning and encourage a lifelong enjoyment of swimming. The Y introduced the country to the concept of group swim lessons more than 100 years ago (1909), and each year, the Y teaches more than a million children invaluable water safety and swimming skills. As one of the largest community-based organizations in the country, the Y owns or manages over 2,000 pools. Thanks to its size and reach, the Y is in a unique position to help bridge the gap in the delivery of swim lessons and water safety education in the U.S.—especially in underserved communities.
Help Keep Your Children Safe
Drowning can happen nearly anywhere with standing water. But, as a parent or caregiver, you can’t keep your children sidelined. You need to equip them with the tools they need to be confident in and around water so they don’t lose out on the health benefits of exercise, the opportunities to bond with family and friends and the sense of accomplishment when they learn new skills.
There are three general categories of Y Swim Lessons:
- Swim Starters develops water enrichment and aquatic readiness in children ages six months to three 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.
- Swim Basics develops personal water safety and basic swimming skills in students of all ages. 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.
- Swim Strokes introduces and refines stroke technique in older students (school age, teens and adults). 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.
Safety Around Water
Teaching children how to be safe around water is not a luxury; it is a necessity. The YMCA’s Safety Around Water program can help you make sure they learn essential water safety skills, which can open up a world of possibilities for them to satisfy their curiosity safely.
Sign up for Swim Lessons!
If you are unsure of which class to choose, please refer to the lesson selector: Lesson-Selector-YMCA
Parent & Child: Stage A – Water Discovery
Accompanied by an adult – Children 6 months old to 1.5 years old. Learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills while parents learn about water safety, drowning prevention and the importance of supervision.
Swim Diapers AND swim shorts over diapers are a must!
Parent & Child: Stage B – Water Exploration
Accompanied by an adult – Children 1.5 – 3 years old, work with their parents to master the skills of kicking, pulling and blowing bubbles together to form basic stroke and body position. Fundamental safety and aquatic skills are also introduced.
Swim Diapers AND swim shorts over diapers are a must!
1 Preschool – Water Acclimation
All Preschool Level 1 skills can be performed with support.
Skills include: becoming more comfortable with submersion and putting the face in while swimming, reinforcing and building the floating and gliding skills.
Ages 3-5
2 Preschool – Water Movement
All Preschool Level 2 skills can be performed with assistance.
Skills include: becoming more comfortable with submersion and putting the face in while swimming, reinforcing and building the floating and gliding skills introduced in Preschool Level 1, and moving independently farther and stronger with combined arm and leg movement.
Ages 3-5
3 Preschool – Water Stamina
All Preschool Level 3 skills can be performed with assistance/independently
To build on skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice. Working on becoming independent for short distances.
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 2 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 2 skills.
Age 3-5
1 Youth – Water Acclimation
To help students feel comfortable in the water and to enjoy the water safely – assistance/independently
Requirements: None
Skills Covered: Entering and exiting the water safely, learning to submerge mouth, nose and eyes and breath control, front and back float and recovering to a stand, changing direction in the water, swimming 5 feet on front and back.
Ages 6-12
2 Youth – Water Movement
To give students success with fundamental skills
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 1 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 1 skills.
Skills Covered: Entering water by stepping or jumping in from the side, submerging entire head, blowing bubbles, open eyes underwater, front and back glide, swim 15 feet on front and 10 feet on back, swim on side, life jacket use.
Age 6-12
3 Youth – Water Stamina
To build on skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 2 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 2 skills.
Skills Covered: Jump into deep water, head first entry from sitting or kneeling, submerging and retrieving an object, bobbing, survival float for 30 seconds, treading water for 30 seconds, front crawl 15 yards, butterfly 15 feet, back crawl 15 yards, elementary rescues, safe diving, check-call-care.
Age 6-12
4 Youth – Stroke Introduction
To develop confidence in the strokes learned thus far and to improve other aquatic skills by increasing endurance through swimming greater distances
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 3 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 3 skills.
Skills Covered: diving, underwater swimming, feet-first surface dive, 1 minute of survival floating, treading and back floating, 25 yards of front crawl, breaststroke and back crawl, 15 yards of butterfly and elementary backstroke and sidestroke.
Age 6-12
5 Youth – Stroke Development
Coordination and refinement of strokes
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 4 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 4 skills.
Skills Covered: Shallow dive, tuck and pike surface dives, 2 minutes of survival floating, back float and treading water, flip turns on front and back, 50 yards front and back crawl, 25 yards butterfly, breaststroke, elementary backstroke and sidestroke, 2 minutes of survival swimming.
Age 6-12
6 Youth – Stroke Mechanics
Swim 500 yards continuously using any 3 strokes, swimming at least 50 yards of each stroke. Swimmers should already be able to: swim front and back crawl 50 yds, elementary backstroke 25 yards, breaststroke 25 yards, butterfly 25 yards, sidestroke 10 yards, tread water for 3 minutes, and dive.
Swimmers will work on: All six strokes, front and back crawl flip turn, breaststroke turn, breaststroke speed turn and pullout, butterfly turn, sidestroke turn, pike and tuck surface dive, pike and tuck dive from board, tread water for five minutes, and basic water rescue.
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Registrations
Follows our Session Dates: Session Date Calendar 2025
Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. If a class is full, you may join the waitlist for that specific class.
Class Make-up Policy
When a cancelation is due to weather conditions or health & safety factors we will do our best to have a make-up class at the end of a session unless ½ of that day’s class has been taught. We do not offer make-up or refunds, due to swimmers missing classes.
Program Cancellation or Adjustment
The Naugatuck YMCA reserves the right to cancel, combine or adjust the schedule of any classes. If class is canceled due to lack of enrollment, you will be notified by phone.
Naugatuck Y Swim Lesson Contact Information
Aquatics Aquatic Email
(203) 729-9622 X 3009
284 Church St. Naugatuck, CT 06770