Stroke Development

The Beta class is the earliest stroke development class for preschool and school age students. Classes are 30 minutes long and there may be up to 3 students per coach for preschool students and up to 5 students per coach for school age. Students in this class are at least 3 years old and should have their basic safety skills and are able to safely swim about 10 yards (½ length).

Students in this class primarily learn freestyle (also called front crawl) and they will continue to reinforce safety skills.

These classes usually only require the use of a half a length of one lane. A platform will be used in the middle of the pool and kids will swim from wall to platform and then platform to wall. Each student will require a kickboard, and other tools such as noodles and fins can be used with discretion.

The Piranha classes are 30 minutes long and they may be up to 5 students per coach. Students in this class must be 4 years old, be able to regularly swim ½ lengths of the pool, and be proficient in at least 80% of Beta classes.

This class teaches students more advanced freestyle and it also adds an introduction to new strokes like backstroke and butterfly.

This class usually only requires the use a half a length of one lane. A platform will be used in the middle of the pool and kids will swim from wall to platform and then platform to wall. Each student will require a kickboard, and other tools such as noodles and fins can be used with discretion. As students near the end of this class, you will start encouraging students to complete full lengths without stopping.

The Barracuda classes are 30 minutes long and they may be up to 5 students per coach. Students in this class must be 4 years old, be able to regularly swim full lengths of the pool, and be proficient in at least 80% of Piranha classes.

The primary stroke that is going to be taught in this class is backstroke. Along with backstroke, more advanced freestyle will be taught, as well as some introductory breaststroke and butterfly.

This is the first class that will require the use of an entire lane. No more platforms. This class will require each student to have a kickboard. Other tools such as noodles and fins can be used at the coach’s discretion.

The Hammerhead classes are 30 minutes long and they may be up to 5 students per coach. Students in this class must be 4 years old, be able to regularly swim full lengths of the pool, and be proficient in at least 80% of Barracuda classes.

In this class we will be getting into more advanced techniques to perfect the strokes. We will moving forward in our diving, we are also going to be adding in basic flips in the water to work toward flip turns. This class will require the use of an entire lane. No platforms.

This class will require each student to have a kickboard. Other tools such as noodles and fins can be used at the coach’s discretion.

The Dolphin classes are 30 minutes long and they may be up to 5 students per coach. Students in this class must be 4 years old, be able to regularly swim multiple lengths of the pool (the 50s and 100s), and be proficient in at least 80% of Hammerhead
skills.

In this class, we will be getting into more advanced techniques to perfect the strokes. We will move forward with our diving, introducing different turns, such as flip-turns and open turns, as well as working on using track starts. This class will require the use of an entire lane. No platforms.

This class will require each student to have a kickboard. Other tools such as noodles and fins can be used at the coach’s discretion.

The Orca class is the last level before joining the Water Warriors swim team practice. Classes are 30 minutes long and there may be up to 5 students per coach. Students at this level should be adept at freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and mosquing. This level gets more technical in all of the different strokes and emphasizes turns and transitions.
Students in this class will regularly be swimming 50’s different strokes, but before they are done they should be able to regularly swim 100’s of various strokes. Students will need a kickboard and in many cases, they will need pull buoys. Other tools such as fins can be used at the coach’s discretion.