Swim Lessons

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Swimming is a life skill as well as great exercise and a challenging sport. Ys offer swim lessons from 6 months old to adults, family swim, competitive swimming, and many kinds of adaptive swim programs for kids with special needs, so we can all safely enjoy the pleasures of an aquatic environment. Due to demand, you must be a member of the YMCA to sign up for swim lessons.

View full list of classes

What age group does the student fall into?

6 months - 3 years: Parent & Child Stages A-B
3 years - 5 years: Preschool Stages 1-4
5 years - 12 years: School Age Stages 1-6
12+ years: Teen and Adult Stages 1-6

All age groups are taught the same skills but divided according to their developmental milestones.

* At the Y, we know families take a variety of forms. As a result, we define parent broadly to include all adults with primary responsibility for raising children, including biological parents, adoptive parents, guardians, stepparents, grandparents, or any other type of parenting relationship.

Free Swim Lessons Available Through NY SWIMS

Thanks to funding provided through Governor Kathy Hochul's NY SWIMS Initiative and the New York State Department of Health, the Capital District YMCA is offering free swim lessons to help more children gain lifesaving water safety and swimming skills.

This initiative is designed to expand access to swim lessons for children who may otherwise face barriers to participation. To help reach families with the greatest need, eligibility requirements apply. This opportunity is open to children ages 6 months to 12 years with limited swimming experience (parent/child classes or testing at swim levels 1-3) who have not previously participated in swim lessons at the Capital District YMCA.

To learn more about lesson availability or determine if your child may be eligible, please contact Kim Kowalski at kkowalski@cdymca.org.

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A / Water Discovery is the class to register for

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B / Water Exploration is the class to register for

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1 / Water Acclimation is the class to register for

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2 / Water Movement is the class to register for

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3 / Water Stamina is the class to register for

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4 / Stroke Introduction is the class to register for

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5 / Stroke Development is the class to register for

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6 / Stroke Mechanics is the class to register for

Stage Descriptions

Swim Starters

Accompanied by a parent, infants and toddlers learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence building experiences, while parents learn about water safety, drowning prevention, and the importance of supervision.

A / Water Discovery

Parents accompany children in stage A, which introduces infants and toddlers to the aquatic environment through exploration and encourages them to enjoy themselves while learning about the water.

B / Water Exploration

In stage B, parents work with their children to explore body positions, floating, blowing bubbles, and fundamental safety and aquatic skills.

Swim Basics

Students learn personal water safety and achieve basic swimming competency by learning two benchmark skills:

Swim, float, swim — sequencing front glide, roll, back float, roll, front glide, and exit
Jump, push, turn, grab

1 / Water Acclimation

Students develop comfort with underwater exploration and learn to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water in stage 1. This stage lays the foundation that allows for a student’s future progress in swimming.

2 / Water Movement

In stage 2, students focus on body position and control, directional change, and forward movement in the water while also continuing to practice how to safely exit in the event of falling into a body of water.

3 / Water Stamina

In stage 3, students learn how to swim to safety from a longer distance than in previous stages in the event of falling into a body of water. This stage also introduces rhythmic breathing and integrated arm and leg action.

Swim Strokes

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.

4 / Stroke Introduction

Students in stage 4 develop stroke technique in front crawl and back crawl and learn the breaststroke kick and butterfly kick. Water safety is reinforced through treading water and elementary backstroke.

5 / Stroke Development

Students in stage 5 work on stroke technique and learn all major competitive strokes. The emphasis on water safety continues through treading water and sidestroke.

6 / Stroke Mechanics

In stage 6, students refine stroke technique on all major competitive strokes, learn about competitive swimming, and discover how to incorporate swimming into a healthy lifestyle.

To ensure safety in and around the water, we ask you to abide by our pool rules and policies. Click here for a program overview of our swim lessons.