_{^{Nearly 2 million people learn to swim each year with American Red Cross programs.}}

The American Red Cross has been the leader in swimming and lifeguarding since 1914. Now the winning tradition continues with an exciting new collection of courses designed to make learning easier and to help you benefit from the latest research on instructional techniques.

Parent and Child Aquatics

Developed for children 6 months to 5 years of age, American Red Cross Parent and Child Aquatics builds swimming readiness by emphasizing fun in the water.

Parents and children participate in several guided practice sessions that help children learn elementary skills, including water entry, bubble blowing, front kicking, back floating, underwater exploration and more.

Once children can perform basic skills without parental assistance, they may begin Learn-to-Swim courses.

Learn-to-Swim teaches aquatic and safety skills in a logical progression. The objective is to teach people to swim and to be safe in, on and around the water.

Skills are categorized in the following way:

• Water Entry and Exit
• Breath Control and Underwater Swimming
• Buoyancy
• Changing Direction and Position
• Treading
• Swimming on Front, Back and Side
• General and Personal Water Safety
• Helping Others

The six learn-to-swim levels and the objectives for each level include:

Level 1
Introduction to Water Skills: helps students feel comfortable in the water and to enjoy the water safely.

Level 2
Fundamental Aquatic Skills: gives students success with fundamental skills.

Level 3
Stroke Development: builds on the skills in Level 2 by providing additional guided practice.

Level 4
Stroke Improvement: develops confidence in the strokes learned and to improve other aquatic skills.

Level 5
Stroke Refinement: provides further coordination and refinement of strokes.

Level 6
Swimming and Skill Proficiency: refines the strokes so students swim them with ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Level 6 is designed with "menu" options. Each of these options focus on preparing students to participate in more advance courses, such as Water Safety Instructor and Lifeguard Training. These options include:

• Personal Water Safety
• Lifeguard Readiness
• Fundamentals of Diving
• Fitness Swimming