Level 4 (Stroke Improvement)

A child who enrolls in Level 4 should meet the following requirements:

• Is usually older than 9 years old
• Able to confidently perform the front crawl for 15 yards with basic rotary breathing (breathing to the side, keeping the ear in the water). Arms should recover out of the water, legs should constantly kick with minimal knee bending, and together the stroke should be fairly smooth.
• Able to perform the elementary backstroke (or chicken, airplane, soldier) for 15 yards. The student is lying on their back with their ears in the water. Arms start at side, slide up the sides to the armpits, extend outward until arms are straight and level with the shoulders, pull down to the sides with straight arms, then glide for 4 seconds. The legs are doing the whip kick simultaneously – legs start straight, knees bend and feet drop toward bottom of the pool (ankles and knees stay together), feet go out to the sides (knees stay together), knees come apart as feet whip in a circle until they are back together, then glide for 4 seconds.
• Able to confidently perform all of the kicks: flutter kick, whip kick on front and back, scissors kick, and dolphin kick
• Have an introduction to the sidestroke. Student is lying on side (whichever is more comfortable). The arm closest to the bottom of the pool is extended overhead and the ear is resting on it. The top arm is against the side. Legs are together. Student will bend knees, bringing their heels toward their buttocks. As they do this their top and bottom arm slide together and meet at their chest. The top leg then kicks forward as the bottom leg kicks back. As they to this the hands stay together but get ready to push back to their original positions. The legs then squeeze together (like scissors) and the arms push water so they end up with the bottom arm extended overhead and the top arm against the side. Glide for 4 seconds then repeat until the side is reached.
• Introduction to diving headfirst from a kneeling position