As America’s most trusted swim lesson instructor, the YMCA has been teaching kids how to swim for more than 100 years. Swim lessons at the YMCA help kids stay fit, healthy, and strong when they spend time in and around water. But, most importantly, they gain confidence and learn vital water safety skills that will last a lifetime.
The YMCA’s Swim Lesson Curriculum is based on a continuum that focuses on a skill-based progression that builds confidence and supports skill development swimmers of all ages. This summer, the Greater Joliet Area YMCA was proud to once again provide swim lessons through our “Go Blue” initiative.
The “Go Blue” Water Safety Program was offered as a part of summer day camp activities at the C.W. Avery Family YMCA, Morris Hospital YMCA, and Village of Shorewood Family YMCA. At the start of the summer, campers completed mandatory swim tests before entering the pool and, based on their swimming abilities, received a red, yellow, or blue wristband. To “Go Blue” meant that swimmers had enough strength, skill, and confidence to pass the YMCA’s blue swim test, which included jumping into the deep end of the pool, treading water, and swimming the length of the pool using a front crawl stroke without stopping.
To improve their swimming skills, all red and yellow wristband campers participated in 15-minute swim lessons each week with the goal of “Going Blue” by the end of summer.
This year’s program served 767 campers and provided 4,345 swim lessons over the course of the summer. Here are the exciting results!
| Start of Summer | End of Summer | |
|---|---|---|
| Red Swimmers | 31.68% | 25.68% |
| Yellow Swimmers | 36.90% | 23.86% |
| Blue Swimmers | 31.42% | 50.46% |
During the first week of summer camp, only one third of the campers attained the highest swim level when tested. By the end of the final week of testing, more than half the campers had gone ‘Blue.’ Additionally, 46 campers that were previously required to wear life jackets when using YMCA pools as red level swimmers improved to a swim level where a life jacket was no longer needed.
We would like to thank the staff members on our amazing YMCA aquatics teams as well as the generous efforts of volunteer swim instructors for helping children learn these life-saving skills this summer.
