The American Red Cross offers six comprehensive course
levels that teach you, your child and other family member how to swim
skillfully and safely. The prerequisite for each level is the successful
demonstration of the skills from the preceding level, except for Level
I, which has no prerequisite. Each level of Learn-to Swim includes
training in basic water safety and helping a swimmer in distress,
in addition to the skills outlined below:
Level 1—Introduction to Water Skills
Enter and exit water safely
Submerge mouth, nose and eyes
Float on front and back
Open eyes underwater, pick up submerged object
Explore arm and hand movements
Follow basic water safety rules
Swim on front and back using arm and leg actions
Exhale underwater through mouth and nose
Use a life jacket
Level 2—Fundamental Aquatic Skills
Enter water by stepping or jumping from the side
Exit water safely using ladder or side
Submerge entire head
Open eyes underwater, pick up a submerged object
Perform front and back glide
Float on front and back
Roll over from front to back, back to front
Tread water using arm and leg motions
Swim on side
Swim on front and back using combined strokes
Move in the water while wearing a life jacket
Level 3—Stroke Development
Jump into deep water from the side
Dive from kneeling or standing position
Perform survival float
Submerge and retrieve an object
Bob with the head fully submerged
Perform front and back glide
Use rotary breathing in horizontal position
Perform front and back crawl
Perform a reaching assist
Butterfly—kick and body motion
Perform the HELP and Huddle position
Change from horizontal to vertical position on front and back
Use Check-Call-Care in an emergency
Level 4—Stroke Improvement
Perform shallow dive or dive from stride position
Swim underwater
Breaststroke
Care for conscious choking victim
Elementary backstroke
Butterfly
Tread water using sculling arm motions and kick
Front and back crawl
Perform a throwing assist
Swim on side using scissors-like kick
Use safe diving rules
Perform feet-first surface dive
Perform compact jump into water from a height while wearing a life
jacket
Perform turns on front and back using any stroke
Level 5—Stroke Refinement
Tread water with two different kicks
Learn survival swimming
Perform rescue breathing
Standing dive
Tuck surface dive
Backstroke flip turn
Breaststroke
Pike surface dive
Front flip turn
Front and back crawl
Elementary backstroke
Sidestroke
Shallow dive, glide two body lengths and begin any front stroke
Butterfly
Level 6—Swimming and Skill Proficiency
Personal Water Safety
Lifeguard Readiness
Fundamentals of Diving
Fitness Swimmer
