The objective of Level One: Minnows is to help swimmers feel comfortable in the water and to enjoy the water safely. Swimmers will learn elementary water skills which they can build on as they progress through the various levels.

• Become oriented of being in the water
• Fully submerge face (3 seconds)
• Supported float on front/back
• Basic breath control (bubble blowing)
• Enter and exit water independently
• Move through water comfortably
• Supported kicking on front/back

Level Two: Perch is to give swimmers confidence with fundamental skills, and learn to float without support. Learn basic self-help rescue skills.

• Fully submerge head (hold 3 seconds)
• Retrieve objects in chest deep water
• Orientation to deep water with support
• Front and back float unsupported (10 sec.)
• Unsupported front/back float or glide (5 sec.)
• Rhythmic breathing (bob 5 times)
• Flutter kick on front/back
• Introduction of arm action
• Turning over front/back, back/front

Swimmers learn to coordinate front and back crawl. Introduce elementary backstroke and the fundamentals of treading water.

• Retrieve object, eye open, no support in deep water
• 10 Bobs in deep water slightly over head to travel to safe area
• Jump into deep water from side of pool
• Front/Back glide with push off (2 body lengths)
• Coordinate arm stroke for freestyle with breathing to side
• Coordinate back stroke (10 yrds.)
• Reverse direction while swimming on front/back
• Tread water

Level Four: Bass develops confidence in swimming stokes learned thus far and to improve other skills in the water. Introduce breaststroke, Dolphin kick and wall turns.

• Deep water bobbing
• Experiment with buoyancy and floating position
• Alternate breathing on freestyle
• Backstroke (10 yards)
• Freestyle (25 yards)
• Basics of Breaststroke (10 yards)
• Introduction of dolphin kick
• Turning at the wall

The objective of Level Five: Walleye is to polish swimming strokes so swimmers swim with more ease, efficiency, power, and smoothness over greater distances. Refinement of key swimming strokes.

• Alternate breathing
• Breaststroke (10 yards)
• Backstroke (15 yards)
• Underwater pull out for breastroke
• Butterfly Dolphin Kick (10 yards)
• Front/back crawl (50 yards)
• Work on flip turns into the wall doing freestyle
• Tread water (2 min.)