Swim Lessons in Fox Chapel - KW Swim School

KW Swim School Swimmers Progress Through Six Levels of Development

LEVEL 1: Water Comfort & Entry Basics

• Enter and exit the pool safely.
• Become comfortable in the water.
• Submerge their entire head, step by step.
• Blow bubbles through their mouth and nose while supported, then on the wall.
• Float assisted on their front and back and begin to relax in the water.
• Push off the wall to the instructor an arm’s reach away and "swim” back with gentle assistance.

LEVEL 2: Independent Floating & Breath Control

• Independently float on their front and back.
• Bob with breath control.
• Push off the wall in a streamline to the instructor and glide back the to wall.
• Kick with a kickboard (front and back) past the flags.
• Understand rollover breathing and ready position on the wall.

LEVEL 3: Kick & Glide Development

• Streamline push‑offs from the wall to the instructor and back with flutter kicks.
• Use strong front and back kicking 25 yds with a kickboard.
• Streamline unassisted to the flags with a flutter kick.
• Begin freestyle arms focusing on face down and big arms.
• Swim from the T to the wall without assistance.

LEVEL 4: Freestyle & Safety Foundations

• Perform freestyle ready‑position push‑offs with 3 to 5 quality strokes to the instructor.
• Backstroke kick on their back in a straight line and streamline back kick.
• Tread water for 15 seconds.
• Demonstrate the ability to swim to safety with rollover breathing.
• Jump into the shallow end and swim to the wall for safety.
• Swim from the wall to the instructor, demonstrating stroke and safety control.

LEVEL 5: Deep End

• Float in the deep end.
• Tread water for 15 seconds in the deep end.
• Swim from the flags to the wall in the deep end.
• Perform a sitting dive from the side and do streamlined push‑offs to the flags.
• Demonstrate the ability to swim to safety in the deep end (instructor to wall or wall to instructor).

LEVEL 6: Body Positioning

• Perform legal freestyle and backstroke body line.
• Start learning backstroke arms
• Streamline on back kick.
• Practice floating drills.
• Swim from the middle of the pool to the wall.
• Perform simple dive entries from the side; focusing on body alignment.
• Retrieve rings from mid-depth and deep areas of the pool.
• Swim 25 yards of freestyle and backstroke with legal form and breathing.
• Dive off the block.

NEXT LEVEL: KW Jr. Whales

Once a swimmer has completed and passed all six KW Swim School levels of development, we encourage interested swimmers to join the KW Jr. Whales, to continue swim skill advancement and progression.

When & Where

• Lessons take place at the Fox Chapel Area High School pool.
• You can view the specific times and days offered during registration.
• Participants may sign up for one or multiple sessions based on the season.
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Summer

Requirements & Tips

• Swimmers must be ages 3 to 12.
• All lessons participants must be toilet trained. No diapers are permitted in the pool.
• The water temperature is kept at competition temperature (a little on the cooler side), so your child may want to wear a surf shirt during their classes.
• Parents/guardians "stay dry" and watch while advanced members of our competitive KW Swim Team are in the pool with the students.

Registration & Fees

• The cost per session is listed during registration.
• We fill classes on a first-come, first-serve basis. Space is limited.
• We accept payment with debit cards (VISA or Mastercard only) and all major credit cards.
• We do not prorate or refund registration fees for missed lessons.

Questions?

Please contact us.

Register for KW Swim School Lessons