The learn to swim program from CurrentWave is expanding and spreading.

2. Introducing:
The best way to teach children how to
swim and operate an aquatics program.
Canada’s The Swim Academy Learn to Swim
and Skills program, a dynamic aquatic
program, is expanding and spreading a
ISCA’s LAP.
ISCA is the nonprofit,
International Swim Coaches Association.
LAP stands for
Lifespan Aquatics Programming.

3. Designed by top swimming and
coaching experts, ISCA’s LAP
teaches children how to swim with
confidence, skill and efficiency,
while having fun.

4. Early introduction of all
swimming strokes.
Multiple swimmer rewards and
incentives.
Learner-centered philosophy.
Clients learn at their own rate.
Designed to appeal to all age
groups from babies, teens to
adults.
Promotes participation, fun and
success in the water.
Wide range of exciting aquatic
activities.

5. U CAN Swim
•Asks parents/guardians what
improvements they would like to
see in their children’s swimming:
•More time spent swimming.
•More attention placed on
stroke improvement.
•Noticeable improvements in
stroke efficiency and fitness
levels.
•More self esteem and
confidence building.
•No pass/fail.

6. Our instructor
expectations include:
•Core knowledge of “must sees” for
skill analysis, correction and skill
progression.
•Safety supervision.
•Lesson planning and evaluation.
•Utilize teaching standards.
• Maximize class times.
• Maintain course themes.
• Customization for lesson.
• Strength and conditioning training.
• Working with diverse ability levels.
• Get in the water & have fun!
•Communicate with swimmers,
parents and supervisors
•Follow our administrative standards.

7. Programs
Parent & Tot
•
Ducklings (3 months to 1 year)
•
Dinos (1 to 3 years)
Pre - school (3 to 5 years)
•
Dolphins 1
•
Dolphins 2
•
Dolphins 3
Stage 1
(6 years of age and older)
Orientation to water
Stage 2
Skill Development
Stage 3
Skill Improvement
Stage 4
Sport Modules

8. Pre-school
Ducklings (3 months to 1 year)
•This stage introduces guardians and babies
to the water. The goal is to ensure that
children are relaxed and having fun.
•Get your child to become comfortable in the
water by using various movements.
•Parents and guardians learn about
educating their children on safe movement
through the water.

9. Pre-school
Dinos (1 - 3 years)
•Dinos are toddlers that need
the comfort of a parent to
enjoy the water.
•Adults learn how to enjoy the
water with their child, and
more importantly, children
learn how to relax and be
comfortable in the water.
•More emphasis on having the
child do thing on their own,
with the reassurance of the
always present guardian.

10. Pre-school
Dolphins (ages 3 to 5 years)
•Dolphins I – children become
comfortable on their own.
•Dolphins II – independent children that
are comfortable in the water.
•Dolphins III – children develop the
basic skills for freestyle, backstroke,
breaststroke and butterfly.
•Dolphins is a preparatory stage before
entering Stage 1 advanced or beginner
Stage 2. If the child is quite competent
in the water you may want to challenge
them with Stage 2 skills. The major
emphasis is to prepare the child for an
easy transition to Stage 2.

12. Stage 2
Skill Development
Basic movements and orientation
focus for swimming skills: arm
action, sculling and breathing.
Content to cover:
•Streamlining, propulsion.
•Basic Strokes: free, back,
intro to breast and basic
dolphin movements.
•Specific skills: submersion,
underwater push-offs,
treading.
•Introduction to diving skills.

13. Stage 3
Skill Improvement
Involves improving all strokes,
reaction, rhythm abilities and
increasing endurance.
Content to Cover:
•Major focus: breathing and stroke
timing.
•Stroke Improvement of free, back,
breast, fly.
•Introduction to turn skills
•Advanced diving skills.
•Building endurance and
discussions on the concepts of
fatigue.

15. Stage 4
Sport Modules
After swimmers achieve
swimming competency in prior
stages, they are offered a variety
of aquatic sport opportunities:
•Aquatics for Life
•Water Polo
•Skwim
•Synchro
•Triathlon
•Dive
•Teaching
•Lifeguarding

16. Learner Differences
Age
Range
Characteristic
Motor Skills Communication Learning Social
3 – 5
years
Limited
coordination.
Understands basic
language, images.
Short attention
span - Learns by
copying.
Can play alone or
with small group
6 – 7
years
Basic movements.
Orientation ability
develops.
Follows simple
directions. Use image/
analogy/ feel.
Likes high rate of
activity - learns by
exploring.
Likes group situations
Recognition is important.
8 – 11
years
Reaction / rhythm
abilities develop.
Likes to ask
questions.
Can link skills.
Learns by doing
and trying.
Male/female social
differences appear.
12–15
years
Rhythm abilities
improve, as does ability
to put skills together.
Follows complex
directions.
Enjoys challenge
Learns new skills
every lesson.
Might be self-
conscious.
16 &
Older
Motor
coordination.
Grasps underlying
principles.
Wants to know
WHY?
Peer-group influence is
strong. Independence is
important.

17. Learner Centered Approach
•A learner centered approach
focuses on the swimmer’s
needs and abilities.
•Learner centered implies
knowing something about the
learner, how learning can take
place, what needs to be
learned.
•Although emphasis is placed
on individuals, it is the
similarities among individuals
that allows for group teaching.

18. Learning Styles
Understanding learning styles has
more influence on your teaching
then you realize!
Everyone has a preferred learning
style that guides if, and or how,
they learn.
•When teaching to a group it is
important to incorporate a variety of
learning styles into each and every
lesson, ensuring you meet everyone’s
needs.
•Knowing and understanding the
swimmers’ learning style makes very
effective teachers and programs.

19. People Tend to learn by:
•SEEING (copying the teacher)
•HEARING (listening and following
the teachers directions, explanations
and instructions)
•DOING (trying the skill or activity for
themselves)
•FEELING (teacher assisted, or
physical manipulation guided by
teacher)
•TRYING THE WHOLE SKILL
•TRYING PARTS OF TH E SKILL
•BY TRYING COMBINATIONS
AT DIFFERENT TIMES

20. Growth & Development
Characteristics
•To effectively plan lessons and challenge
your swimmers accordingly, you need
to have a general understanding of
where they are developmentally. This
awareness insures lessons are fun and
appropriate for your swimmers!

22. Teaching Strategies
•Using lesson themes
• Incorporate the main goal into
more than one area of your lesson.
• Have specific goals and objectives
for your lesson.
•Customizing your lesson
• Individual relationships with each
swimmer.
• Setting specific goals for the
session.
• Focusing on swimmers needs and
abilities.
• Know the learner differences and
how to adjust your teaching.
Incorporate the learner centered
approach.
•Maximizing your class time
• Class set up.
• Team teaching.
• Endurance swimming.
• Being prepared and ready.
• Safety formations.
• Multi tasking.

23. Teaching Strategies
Strength & Conditioning
•Distance assessment.
•Everything has purpose, eg picking
up rings from the pool floor at a
preschool level.
•Incorporating fun into your lesson,
eg passing a ball while treading
water.
•Incorporating self competition and
fun competition against your
teacher.
•Survivor based activities.
Diverse Ability Levels
•Using distance to challenge the
different swimmers.
•Equipment or aids.
•Send slower swimmers first.
•Set up stations that focus on
different progressions.

24. H20 Aware – Water Safety
We recognizes the importance of teaching
youth the fundamentals of safety in and
around the water. H20 Aware skills and
messages are taught through activities.
We equip swimmers with the
knowledge and skill ability to be pro-
active in realistic situations and create
awareness of potential dangers.
H20 Aware: Active, Aware & Safe

25. H20 Aware Topics
•Boating Safety
•Ice & Cold Survival
•Open water safety
•Pool safety
•Diving safety
•Water Sport safety
•When & where to go near water
•Water Rescue

26. Stroke Progressions - BLABT
BLABT is:
Body Position
Leg Action
Arm Action
Breathing
Timing

27. BLABT Checklist
Look At: Yes No
Body Position
Is the whole body aligned, even when the body rolls?
Is the head stable and well positioned?
Are the eyes looking in the right direction?
Are the hips close to the water surface?
Leg Action
Does the leg movement start at the hip and close to the surface?
Is the kick balanced?
Do the legs provide support and propulsion?
Arm Action
Is the transition from recovery to propulsion smooth?
Does the pathway of the hands and arms produce effective propulsion?
Is the recovery movement smooth and controlled?
Breathing
Is breathing regular and at optimum frequency?
Is breathing coordinated with body movements?
Is there an effective exchange of air?
Timing
Is there a good relationship between feet/legs, hands/arms?
Does the whole stroke cycle, with breathing, occur smoothly?
Is the whole movement rhythmic and well coordinated?

28. Science of Swimming
Concepts of Effective Swimming
•Resistance &
Streamlining
•Propulsion
•Momentum
•Distance Per
Stroke (DPS)

29. Evaluating the
Swimmers
Start by looking at your swimmers
strokes.
•Ask, “Is this stroke or skill proficient?”
•“Can I challenge this swimmer to
improve further?”
•Break the stroke down into BLABT, and
go through the ‘must sees’ to determine
if the stroke is proficient.
•Make note of the corrections that can be
made for the swimmer in a BLABT
format.

30. Evaluating the Swimmers
There are too many mistakes . . .
•Look at one problem at a time.
•Always refer back to BLABT
when evaluating your
swimmers skill or stroke.
•Identify the cause or causes of
an error, understanding that
any change will cause other
movements in the stroke to
change.
•Don’t interrupt swims to fix
minor faults. Note the problem
for treatment at an opportune
moment.

31. Evaluating the Swimmers
Observing Your Swimmers
•What observation methods to use? Video,
observation of swimmers by another teacher,
swimmers view each other.
•What observation tools to use? Notes and
checklists for swimmers skills and must see’s.
•What position to observe from? Many
different vantage points, underwater windows,
lifeguard chairs, diving platforms and from
above, beside or in front of the swimmers.
•How many observations to make? Observe
swimmers as often as you must to get the
information you need.

32. Award Program
Philosophy
•The program recognizes that
rewarding swimmers for what they
know and can do is an important
component to a child progressing
and learning how to swim.
•The awards are designed to be given
out immediately upon successful
demonstration of the “Must sees” for
each awarded skill.
•Teachers should refrain from all last
day awards scenario as this program
is a continual progression.
•As teachers and coaches, it is
important to constantly motive the
swimmers to achieve the best that
they can.

33. Award Program
Administration
Progress slips
• contain an area for teachers to neatly
write down any awarded skills
•provide ongoing communication
feedback to both the swimmers and
parents.
Passports
•Stage passports allow both teachers
and parents to track their swimmers’
progress and gives a brief outline of the
entire program.
•Is meant to be a communication tool
•Swimmers are suppose to bring in
their passport to update the teacher on
where they are in the program.
•At the end of the swim session, hand
back the updated passport with new
awards.

34. PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Dinos
Ducklings
Dolphins 1, 2, 3

35. STAGES Program
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4 –
sport modules