Swim Lessons

Registration for the Spring 1 2024 session will open on Thursday, February 22nd at 12:01am. Fees, Schedules & Calendars have been updated for your convenience.

The Club is important because it provides support and resources for children in our community. It’s a positive, nurturing environment that allows children to not only realize, but maximize their full potential.

- Eric M., Director of Aquatics

Dennis Munson Aquatic School

Water safety is critical for ALL children. Each year in the U.S. the #1 cause of accidental death for children ages 1-4 is drowning. BGCNW proudly teaches over 1,000 children to be water safe each year. Since the Club opened its doors in 1939, our Learn-to-Swim program has taught more than 65,000 local children how to swim and be safe in the water.

Class Descriptions

Parent & Child: Ages 6 months – 3½ years

Introduction to Water Skills (30 min class)
Recommended for ages 6 months to 3½ years with an adult. Have fun in the pool with songs, games, and activities that will help you and your child be safer and more comfortable in the water. Submersion is your choice. No previous experience is needed. Swim diapers must be worn under child’s bathing suit, if not potty-trained.

Pre-School Swimming Classes: 3 & 4 year olds

Pre-School Beginner (30 min class)
No parental assistance. For 3 & 4 year olds. This is a beginner class. No swimming experience needed to enroll. This class will focus primarily on safety in and around the pool while acclimating new swimmers to the water by blowing bubbles, submerging face and practicing arm and leg movements. Front and back float is also introduced.

Pre-School Experienced (30 min class)
No parental assistance. For 3 & 4 year olds who are able to swim independently without a float 20 feet on front and at least 15 feet on their back. This class will focus primarily on safety in and around the pool as well as front/back float, jumps, blowing bubbles and treading.

School Age Classes: Ages 5-15 years

Level 1 – Introduction to Water Skills (30 min class)
Acceptable for 5+ year olds. Little or no swimming skills are necessary to enroll. Class will focus on safety in and around the pool and introduce new swimmers to the water by blowing bubbles, submerging face and kick and arm movements. Front and back float also introduced. Work towards unassisted floating and swimming on front and back.

Level 2 – Fundamental Water Skills (30 min class)
Acceptable for 5+ year olds. Swimmers must pass Level 1, should be comfortable with putting their face in the water and should be able to float on front and back to enroll. Class will focus on fully submerging and proper arm and leg movements for freestyle (front crawl) and backstroke.

Bernard “Bernie” Cohn assisting a child with their backfloat.

Level 3 – Stroke Development (30 min class)
Must pass level 2 or must swim 20 feet on back and 20 feet on front using rhythmic breathing to enroll. Class will progressively build on skills developed in earlier levels. Lesson includes rotary breathing in Freestyle, elementary backstroke and Introduction of breaststroke kick, treading water and kneeling dive.

Level 4 – Stroke Improvement (45 min class)
Must pass level 3 or must swim elementary backstroke and front crawl (freestyle), with rotary breathing 45 feet each, dive, and tread water for 1 minute to enroll. This class will help swimmers gradually increase the distances swum for freestyle, backstroke and elementary backstroke. Introduce breaststroke pull, butterfly kick and standing dive.

Swim Clinic (60 min class)

Swim Clinic is for students who have a basic understanding of and ability to swim the four competitive strokes. The focus of Swim Clinic is on refining the stroke techniques while building endurance. Students will learn the basics of competitive swimming skills such as flip turns, open turns and racing dives. Swim Clinic is a great option for swimmers that need refinement before joining a competitive swim team OR for those who enjoy learning and practicing swimming without the obligation to competitions and long term commitments.

**Our Swim Clinic is separated into two age categories; Ages 7-10 (Group A) and Ages 11-14 (Group B). Students have the option to register for once, twice or three times weekly. Classes are 60 minutes.

Adult Classes: Ages 16+

Adult Beginner – Introduction to Water Skills (30 min class)
For 16+ year olds. Little or no swimming skills are necessary to enroll. This class will focus on safety in and around the pool and introduce new swimmers to the water by submerging face, efficiently exchanging oxygen and learning kick and arm movements. Front and back float also introduced. Work towards unassisted floating and swimming on front and back.

Adult Intermediate – Stroke Development (30 min class)
For 16+ year olds. Must be able to comfortably swim 20 feet on back and 20 feet on front using rhythmic breathing to enroll. This class will progressively build on skills each week. Students will learn rotary breathing in Freestyle and the Elementary Backstroke. Breast-stroke kick, treading water and diving will be introduced.

Cancellation/Make-up Policy
Classes must be cancelled 1 business day before the class starts. After this cut-off, NO REFUNDS will be given.

A $10 administrative fee will be deducted from all refunds. A make-up week is built into the schedule at the conclusion of the session. Swimmers may ONLY make up one class. Make-ups must occur on the swimmers regularly scheduled class day and time. For example, if your child’s class is on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm, they would attend the make-up on Tuesday at 4:00 pm only. You may not make-up more than one class and you may not make-up on different days. Refunds and/or credits will NOT be issued due to absences.

Upcoming Learn-To-Swim Sessions:

  • Spring 1 2024: February 26th – April 21st (7 weeks) Registration opens on February 22nd, 2024
  • Spring 2 2024: April 29th – June 16th (7 weeks) Registration opens on April 25th, 2024
  • Summer 2024: July 1st – August 18th (7 weeks) Registration opens on June 27th, 2024

For More Information

Eric Mitchell
Director of Aquatics
emitchell@bgcnw.com

Dr. Zachary Hojnacki, PhD
Head Coach, BGNW Marlins
zhojnacki@bgcnw.com

914-666-8069 Ext. 115

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