Swim Lessons

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Learn to Swim- Swim Lesson Information

Learning how to swim is a skill that will allow you to enjoy your time in the water and also keep you safe! We offer lessons for ages 6 months – adults. Try a group swim lesson, or private lesson!

Priority swim lesson registration is given to residents & members.

Please see below for new information regarding swim lessons - including registration dates, level overview, what to expect, and more!

Upcoming Classes

Preparing for Swim Team

Preparing for Swim Team

The Preparing for Swim Team Clinic is designed for swimmers who have successfully completed the American Red Cross Level 4 or higher swim lessons. This clinic is 8 classes, 45 minutes each, and runs in April and September each year. The class is taught by Manta Ray Swim Team coaches and is a great introduction to competitive swimming by bridging the gap between swimming lessons and swim team. In this clinic swimmers will work on improving stroke technique in all 4 competitive strokes through the use of team drills, work on competitive diving from a starting block, practice both freestyle and backstroke flip turns, and learn swim team push off’s with underwater dolphins and tight streamlines (the basic groundwork of all competitive swim teams).

This clinic has Prerequisite Skills that must be met in order to participate. All swimmers interested in participating in this clinic must:

Have passed level 4 or above of swimming lessons.

Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) of the pool freestyle without stopping and consistently demonstrating breathing to the side at the appropriate timing within the stroke.

Be able to swim 25 yards (1 length) backstroke without stopping and continuously maintaining a horizontal backstroke position in the water.

Please Note: Participation in this class does not guarantee a spot on the Manta Ray Swim Team.

Registration and Refund Policy

Registration and Refund Policy

Priority Registration will be given to Macedonia residents and Macedonia Recreation Center members for all swim lessons moving forward. The first 2 days of the registration period will be for Macedonia residents and Mac Rec members only. Registration will open to everyone else on the third day. If a city resident or Mac Rec member misses the 2-day priority registration window, they will no longer have priority and will register for any openings remaining in the swim lesson class.

We do not offer make-up classes or reimbursement for any lessons missed. If the Recreation Center must cancel a lesson, we will offer a make-up lesson during the session.

If a family is falsifying registration information of any kind including birthdate, age, and residency information, the child will be removed from the program without a refund. This policy applies to all Macedonia Recreation programming and events, including swimming lessons. Macedonia Recreation center has the right to request a child’s birth certificate when necessary.

Important Information

MACEDONIA RECREATION CENTER SWIMMING LESSONS

Macedonia Recreation Center offers American Red Cross Learn to Swim Lessons taught by certified Water Safety Instructors (WSI). The swimming lesson path according to the American Red Cross and followed by Mac Rec Learn to Swim Program is as follows:

Children ages 0.5- 4 years old: Parent Child Class only. This class requires a 1:1 ratio of parent/guardian to child.

Children ages 4 & 5: Preschool 1, Preschool 2, & Preschool 3. After passing all 3 preschool levels AND turning at least 5, the swimmer will then enter Levels 1-6 in chronological order.

Children ages 6 & Older: Levels 1-6. Levels 1 & 2 have a student to teacher ratio of no more than 6:1 while levels 3-5 are no more than 8:1

Teenagers (13+) and Adults: Teen and/or adult learn to swim program. Ratio of approximately 6 students to 1 instructor.

LEVEL OVERVIEW

Preschool 1 & 2-Introduction to Water Skills with Support: Students will gain confidence with the water by learning to float on their front and back with support, put their face in the water, blow bubbles, tread water in shoulder deep water, glide off the wall with support on the front and back, and begin learning combined arm and leg action for front crawl and backstroke with support.

Level 1-Introduction to Water Skills: Students will learn how to feel comfortable in the water and safely enjoy it by learning to float on their front and back, put their face in the water, hold their breath, glide off the wall on their front and back, and begin learning combined arm and leg action for the front crawl and backstroke.

Level 2-Fundamentals of Aquatic Skills: Children will learn basic swimming skills such as independently floating on both front and back, freestyle kicking, front crawl stroke, and back crawl stroke for at least 10 yards without support.

Level 3-Stroke Development: Additional guided practice will help students improve their skills from level 2 as well as begin learning Elementary backstroke, side stroke and breaststroke for 15 yards.

Level 4-Stroke Improvement: Kids will gain confidence during swim lessons, improve stroke skills in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, elementary backstroke, and side stroke. Swimmers begin learning butterfly. Swimmers should be able to do strokes for 15-25 yards depending on the stroke

Level 5-Stroke Refinement: Guidance allows kids to refine their strokes and become more efficient swimmers. Swimmers work towards doing all strokes for 25-50 yards depending on the stroke. At this level swimmers also tread water for 5 minutes and learn flip turns.

Level 6-Swimming and Skill Proficiency: Students will learn to swim with ease, efficiency and gain the ability to swim smoothly over greater distances. Swimmers work towards swimming 50-100 yards of a stroke without stopping. Swimmers should improve their diving technique and learn racing starts. Swimmers leave this class ready for swim team or other advanced swimming courses.

TEEN & ADULT SWIM LESSON PROGRAM

Macedonia Recreation Center offers teen and adult group swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. We offer classes at 7:50-8:20am and classes from 8:25-8:55am.

Beginner classes are designed for teens and adults who have never swam before or who can not swim 1 length of the pool. This class works on learning how to breathe while swimming, floating, kicking, and learning to swim the freestyle.

Intermediate classes are designed for teens and adults who are comfortable swimming 1 length of the pool freestyle but need to improve their stroke technique, endurance, or want to learn some of the other swimming strokes.

If you aren’t sure which class you belong in, contact the Aquatic Specialist at 330-468-8374.

SWIM LESSON AGE POLICY

The Macedonia Recreation Center provides American Red Cross Swimming Lessons. The swimming lesson path according to the American Red Cross is as follows:

Children ages 0.5- 4 years old: Parent Child Class only. This class requires a 1:1 ratio of parent/guardian to child.

Children ages 4 & 5: Preschool 1 & Preschool 2

Children ages 6 & Older: Levels 1-6

Level 1 is designed by the American Red Cross for children ages 6 and over to ensure the swimmers safety and age-appropriate development. A 5-year-old swimmer can enter level 1 if he/she has successfully completed the preschool 1 and preschool 2 courses with passing records from the instructor. A 4-year-old swimmer is not permitted into level 1 until he/she turns 5 and has successfully passed both preschool 1 and preschool 2. If the 4-year-old swimmer wants to continue lessons, he/she can continue taking the preschool level classes or sign up for private lessons.

Swimmers who are currently 3 and will turn 4 during the preschool 1 swim lesson session will not be manually entered prior to the registration opening. If there is an opening in the class at the end of the registration deadline, then the 3-year-old may, at the Aquatics Specialist’s discretion, be manually entered into the class.

If your child needs to be in a specific swim lesson level that is currently blocked due to his/her age, please contact the Aquatics Specialist at Mac Rec, at the start of your registration period. Falsifying registration information of any kind including birthdate, age, and residency information will result in removal from the program without a refund. Macedonia Recreation center has the right to request a child’s birth certificate when necessary.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING SWIM LESSONS

Thank you for registering your child in the Macedonia Recreation Center Learn to Swim Program! We look forward to teaching Water Safety and swimming skills to your child. In order to make this session of lessons run as smoothly as possible, we ask that:

You arrive 5-10 minutes prior to the start of the class and make sure your child uses the bathroom BEFORE the class starts.

When it is time for the swimming lessons class to begin, please have your swimmer go to the meeting location (signs posted) for their appropriate level and wait for the instructor to meet them there. Swimmers SHOULD NOT enter the water prior to the start of the lesson.

Parents should sit in the chairs or bleachers around the natatorium during the lesson. Parents are not allowed to stand or sit by the lesson. We want the swimmer to focus on the instructor and lesson, not on you. Parents must remain in the natatorium or recreation center throughout the child’s swim lesson.

Swim goggles are not recommended until the swimmer begins level 3 when they are developing strokes and need to see to avoid other swimmers. Swim goggles in prior levels tend to create big delays in the flow of lessons because so much time is spent manipulating or fixing the goggles. Swimmers are not permitted to use scuba goggles, full face mask goggles, or nose clips during swim lessons. We highly recommend

Once the lesson is over, the swimmer should leave the water and return to their adult. Swimmers are not able to stay in the water to play because additional classes will begin following your lesson.

At the end of each 8 week session, you will receive a report card of skills your swimmer has and has not mastered from that level. This report card will determine which level you sign your swimmer up for in the next session. Please DO NOT sign your swimmer up for the next level until you receive a passing report card from the instructor! This will result in the swimmer being moved back down to the level he/she has not passed.

Each lesson level is designed by the Red Cross to cover several new skills that need to be mastered before the swimmer can progress to the next level. Therefore, the levels are not meant to be completed in one session of lessons but rather it is expected that the swimmers will repeat a level 3-6 times or more before progressing to the next level.

We cannot offer make-up lessons for missed classes at any time.

SESSION REPORT CARDS

On the last day of the 8 week swimming lesson session, each participant in the Preschool 1 through Level 5/6 classes will receive a report card of skills the swimmer has and has not mastered throughout the session. This report card will determine which swimming lesson level the child should be signed up for in the next session of lessons. If your child passes the swimming lesson level, he/she will receive a American Red Cross Swimmer Card, indicating completion of the level.

In order for your child to be successful at learning to swim, it is important to only sign your child up for the level recommended by the teacher on the report card. Please DO NOT move your swimmer up to the next level unless the child has passed the current level and received the level completion card. If a swimmer is enrolled in a higher level without successfully completing the prior level, we will either remove the swimmer from the higher level and place them in the correct level (if the class has space) or credit your account the cost of lessons.

It is important to recognize that learning to swim takes time! American Red Cross swimming lessons ARE NOT designed to be completed in one session. Instead, it often takes a swimmer an average of 3-6 repetitions of a level before passing to the next level (with levels 4-6 often taking even longer). The reason for this is because each level has 10-15 NEW skills that build off the prior level skills AND these 10-15 new skills need to be performed properly before passing. In addition, swimmers often need a lot of repetition of a skill before mastery.

If a swimmer misses the last class of the session, his/her report card can be picked up in the aquatics office or emailed by contacting lmay@macedonia.oh.us

SWIM LESSON QR CODE FOR ADMITTANCE

Swim lesson participants should check in at the front desk prior to each lesson. When you enter the building for swim lessons, please scan the QR code for each swimmer taking lessons.

**Please note each swimmer registered for lessons will need to use their own ID card.

If you don't have your QR code, you can follow these directions to access it:

Go to the Mac Rec Registration page and log in to your account.

Click on “account.”

At the top of the screen by “Account Information,” choose the name of the adult/child that is participating in swim lessons.

From here you can either screen shot the ID card or you can send yourself an email with the QR code to print it.

Each time you arrive for swim lessons, please scan the ID QR code at the front desk.

PRIVATE SWIM LESSONS

Macedonia Recreation Center offers private lessons for swimmers ages 4-adult. These lessons are 30 minutes long and sold in packages of 5. All private lessons are scheduled by the Aquatic Specialist and the Swim Lesson Instructor.

PRICING:

Our private lessons cost $125 for members & residents and $150 for non-members/non-residents. This lesson pass is for 5 lessons, 30 minutes each for 1 swimmer to 1 instructor.

Our semi-private lessons cost $160 for members & residents and $190 for nonmembers/nonresidents. This lesson pass is for 5 lessons, 30 minutes each lesson for 2 swimmers to 1 instructor.

AVAILABILITY:

All our private lessons are based on participant and the instructor's availability as well as pool space availability. The more availability you have for the lesson, the easier it is to find an instructor to match your availability.

We do not offer private lessons during group lesson time. Therefore, we are currently not offering private lessons on M/W evenings from 5:15-7:30pm and Saturday mornings from 7:45-11:30am.

SCHEDULING:

We are currently servicing over 30 private lessons a week and have a waitlist for private lessons. Depending on participant and instructor availability, it may take a few weeks to a few months to begin private lessons.

If you are interested in signing up for private lessons, please contact the Aquatic Specialist, Lori May, at 330-468-8374 or lmay@macedonia.oh.us

NATATORIUM SUPERVISION & RULES

Children must be supervised as follows:

Children 0-7 must be supervised by someone 16 or older in the water within arm’s reach.

Children 8-11 must be supervised by someone 16 or older in the natatorium

Children under the age of 8 must pass the Mac Rec Water Competency Swim Test to use the diving well. (See a lifeguard for the test.)

If a U.S. Coast Guard approved floatation device (properly fitted) is used, regardless of age, the wearer must be supervised in the water within arm’s reach.

Natatorium Rules:

Appropriate family facility attire is required.

Shower before using the pools.

Swim diapers are required for small children or people with incontinence.

Running, horseplay, diving in shallow areas, prolonged breath holding, glass containers, food and gum are prohibited in the pool area.

The starting blocks can not be used unless a swim coach or swim instructor is present at the block.

Portions of the pool may be closed at times; check the pool schedule and posted signs for guidance.

Lifeguards and aquatics staff may establish additional rules for safety as needed.

Diving Board Rules:

One person on the diving board/ladder at a time.

One bounce only. No inward or reverse dives.

No scuba masks or goggles while diving.

The diving board Fulcrum remains locked, unless used with diving coaches.

Sauna, Steam Room, & Hot Tub Guidelines:

You must be 15 years of age to use these amenities.

Observe reasonable time limits (10-15 minutes), over exposure may result in heat related illnesses.

Turn jets off when exiting the hot tub.

Hot tub cleaning/maintenance is scheduled every 2 weeks and the hot tub is closed during this time.

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