The SG Pre-Schooler & Children's Swim Programme
This level focusses on flotation, breath control and submersion.
Areas covered:
- Safe water entry
- Move around the pool holding the poolside for safety
- Float on the back with ears submerged
- Complete a 5 second star float unassisted
- Jump in the water and attempt to swim to the coach (up to 2m)
- Regain an upright position from the back with support
- Regain an upright position from the front with support
- Submerge face and blow bubbles
- Push and glide in a horizontal position from the poolside on the front with face submerged
- Push and glide in a horizontal position from the poolside on the back with ears submerged
- Take part in a coach-led partner-oriented game
This level works on some breath control, body position in the water and correct leg kicks.
Areas covered:
- Travel on the back for 5m with a flat body position attempting arms out of the water
- Travel on the front for 5m with a flat body position attempting arms out of the water
- Jump from poolside and attempt to swim to the coach up to 5m
- Regain an upright position from the back without support after 5 seconds of flotation
- Regain an upright position from the front without support after 5 seconds of flotation
- Push and glide from the wall up to 5m on the back
- Push and glide from the wall up to 5m on the front
- Blow bubbles for a minimum of 3 times rhythmically with face submerged
- Perform a rotation from the front to the back to regain an upright position
- Perform a rotation from the back to the front to regain an upright position
- Develop a basic understanding of breaststroke
This level involves your child beginning to swim up to 5m using all three strokes and introduces lateral and bilateral breathing along with breaststroke leg and arm action.
Areas covered:
- Jump from the poolside and submerge up to 1.2m
- Travel 10m on the back with straight leg kick and arms coming out of the water
- Travel 10m on the front with straight leg kick with arms coming out of the water
- Sink, push away from the wall and maintain a streamline position
- Push and glide on the front with arms extended and log roll onto the back
- Push and glide on the back and log roll onto the front
- Develop an understanding of water safety
- Develop a basic understanding of bilateral breathing
- Fully submerge to pick up an object on the pool floor
- Travel on the front, tuck and rotate around the horizontal access and return on the back
- Have a fair understanding of breaststroke timing, arms, legs and breathing
This level is one of the most important levels in your child’s swimming journey, working on all aspects of breathing, leg action and body position up to 10m in preparation for lengths.
Areas covered:
- Demonstrate an understanding of buoyancy
- Travel 20m on the back showing correct leg and arm action and correct entry of the arm
- Travel 20m on the front showing correct leg and arm action and correct entry of the arm
- Swim 20m front crawl showing fair technique, breathing to the side correctly
- Understand the dolphin leg kick
- Perform a tuck float for 5 seconds
- Perform a sequence of changing shapes whilst floating flat on the surface (minimum 3)
- Push and glide from the wall to the pool floor
- Kick 15m breaststroke on the front unaided
- Travel on the front and roll in one continuous movement onto the back
This level involves your child beginning to swim lengths with lateral and bilateral breathing and brings together the co-ordination of breaststroke along with breathing.
Areas covered:
- Perform a 30m warm up in front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke
- Perform a feet first horizontal scull on the back for 5m
- Perform 3 different shape jumps
- Tread water for 30 seconds
- Swim 30m backstroke with good technique and correct leg kick
- Swim 30m front crawl with face in the water and correct body position with bilateral breathing
- Swim 30m breaststroke with good understanding of coordination of the stroke
- Swim 15m butterfly with basic stroke technique
- Perform a forward somersault tucked in the water
This level involves your child beginning to improve their stamina whilst swimming all three major strokes. Focus is also on butterfly, starts and turns and also diving.
Areas covered:
- Perform an 80m warm up in front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke
- Sink push off the wall, glide kick and rotate into backstroke
- Sink push off the wall, glide kick and rotate into front crawl
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of turns
- Swim front crawl to include at least six rhythmical breaths
- Swim breaststroke to include at least six rhythmical breaths
- Swim butterfly to include at least 6 rhythmical breaths
- Swim 75m – choice of stroke is optional
- Perform a surface dive
This level involves your child swimming distances of up to 200m in all three major strokes and focussing on legal starts and turns for races.
Areas covered:
- Perform a 120m warm up incorporating front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke & butterfly
- Swim 100m backstroke
- Swim 100m front crawl
- Swim 100m breaststroke
- Swim 75m butterfly
- Perform a movement sequence of 1 minute
- Develop an understanding of diving starts and the transition into the stroke
- Swim 150m continuously using a minimum of 3 strokes
- Tread water using egg beater action for 1 minute
- Develop a good understanding of turns and the transition into the stroke.
This level involves the introduction of sets whilst swimming, which is key to your child’s swimming journey. The focus will be on butterfly and timed swims.
Areas covered:
- Complete a warm up using all 4 major strokes over 200-400m
- Complete a set lasting 400m (e.g. 16 x 25m) on a specific turnaround time set by the coach
- Swim 200 – 400m continuously using 1 stroke
- Perform a backstroke turn from 10m in to 15m out
- Perform a breaststroke turn from 10m in to 15m out
- Perform a butterfly turn from 10m in to 15m out
- Perform a front crawl turn from 10m in to 15m out
- Swim 100 m butterfly
This level prepares your child for squad swimming. It is based around timed swims, perfecting technique whilst swimming long distances and mastering starts and turns whilst swimming individual medleys.
Areas covered:
- Complete a set lasting 800m (e.g. either 16 x 50m; 8 x 100m; 4 x 200m)
- Swim 800m continuously using one stroke
- Swim a continuous 100m IM using legal turns
- Perform a backstroke start then butterfly kick in a streamlined position underwater until 10m from the start point (wall), transfer into stroke and complete the remainder of the 25m
- Perform a 15m underwater kick on front in a streamlined position
- Develop correct butterfly stroke technique over 100m
- Perform a front crawl start, underwater kick in a streamlined position until a minimum of 10m from the start point (wall) is completed, transfer into stroke and complete the remainder of the 25m
- Perform a butterfly start, kick in a streamlined position until a minimum of 10m from the start point (wall) is completed, transfer into stroke and complete the remainder of the 25m
- Perform a breaststroke start, perform a 1½ pull under water, transfer into stroke and complete the remainder of the 25m
This level involves your child swimming 60 minutes whilst performing sets and distances of up to 1500m. Timed swims, race dives and starts and turns in all strokes are key.
Areas covered:
- Complete a set lasting 1600m (either 16 x 100m; 8 x 200m; 4 x 400m) on a specific timed turn around set by the coach (e.g. 2.5 min for 100m; 5.5 min for 200m; 12min for 400m)
- Swim 1500m continuously choosing one stroke
- Perform a continuous 100m IM kick without using a kick board
- Swim a continuous 200m IM using legal turns
- Perform a 15m under water butterfly kick on back or front in streamlined position
- Perform a breaststroke start, perform a 1½ pull under water, transfer into stroke and complete the remainder of the 25m
- Perform a front crawl relay take over as an incoming swimmer
- Perform a front crawl relay take over as an outgoing swimmer
The Principles of SG Children's Swimming
The Sports Generation Pre-Schooler & Children’s Swimming Programme has been developed based on years of collective experience of teaching swimming in London. We have taken the best of this experience to develop a highly regarded bespoke programme which is progressive and stimulating. Our programme is in line with the National Teaching Plan and also reflects elements of the STA and ASA programs in the UK, in addition to USA swimming programmes. As a result, we believe our programme meets the demands of all swimmers whilst challenging each individually rather than adopting a generic approach.
We try to use few floatation devices and noodles in our lessons, but recognise that some children will require support in order to encourage and develop confidence before taking the next steps to swimming independently. We do not prematurely push children nor do we hold them back if they are ready to develop.
Our priority is that our instructors deliver clear, concise and constructive lessons that are positive and fun in order for the children to easily interpret and demonstrate what we are asking them to do.
Through our extensive collective experience, we construct our lessons around four key cornerstones which we call the SG 4 S’.
Survival skills: It is vital to teach children how to be self sufficient from as early an age as possible. We teach children how to return to the side of the pool from a jump or push and glide, and also how to float on their back when they are tired.
Stamina: The distance that a child swims is increased at each level to promote fitness. Fitness facilitates correct stroke technique; the fitter the swimmer, the easier it is to learn and master each stroke.
Stroke technique: Attention to detail and ensuring correct technique is fundamental in our programme. We work on correct body position to reduce resistance in the water; we also focus on buoyancy and developing breathing techniques. This is our platform for progress. Only then do we move on to teaching correct stroke technique and style.
Safety: Every lesson is conducted in a structured and safe environment. Teachers receive ongoing first aid training and each venue is continually risk assessed.
We keep our class sizes small to accelerate learning. Each child receives optimal attention from the teacher, spending more time in the water and acquiring skills more efficiently and effectively. Small classes also allow your child to get to know their teacher better which in turn motivates learning.
Happy children learn faster. At Sports Generation we are very proud of our feedback. Parents tell us how much fun the children have in their lessons and how much their child talks about their instructor at home! We recognise that sessions need to be stimulating with children engaged throughout the lesson.