For many families, visiting a beach or pool during the summer is an easy way to cool off from the heat. Some may even visit a pool year-round. But it’s important to remember that even something as fun as a pool, or any body of water, can pose a serious threat if you or your child does not know how to swim.

As America’s most trusted swim instructor, the YMCA has been teaching kids how to swim for more than 100 years. Swim lessons at the YMCA will help your kids stay fit, healthy and strong when they spend time in the water. But, most importantly, they will gain confidence and learn vital water safety skills that will last them a lifetime.

The YMCA’s Swim Lesson Curriculum is based on a continuum that focuses on a skill-based progression that builds confidence and supports skill development for swimmers of all ages. Swim lessons are available six days a week for adults and children, as young as six-months-old. Enrolling your child in swim lessons at a young age will help them to get familiar with the water and teach them critical water safety skills. (Check out the Y’s many other aquatic programs offered this fall.)

SUMMER CAMP FUN

To ensure our summer camp participants have the opportunity to develop this essential life skill, the YMCA has introduced the “Go Blue” Water Safety Program into its camp curriculum. As part of the “Go Blue” Program, campers take a mandatory swim test before entering the pool. Based on their swimming abilities, campers receive a red, yellow or blue wristband. To “Go Blue” means that swimmers have enough strength, skill, and confidence to pass the blue swim test, which includes jumping into the deep end of the pool, treading water, and swimming the length of the pool using a front crawl stroke without stopping.

To improve their swimming skills, all red and yellow wristband campers participate in 15-minute swim lessons several times each week during summer camp. The goal is to help all non-swimmers and intermediate swimmers “Go Blue” by the end of summer.

GO BLUE RESULTS

Now that summer camp has come to an end, we are very excited to share the results of this summer’s “Go Blue” Program. Congratulations to our summer campers and our aquatics and camp teams for a job well done!

C.W. Avery Family YMCA:

• Red Swimmers to Yellow Swimmers: 34
• Yellow Swimmers to Blue Swimmers: 42
• Overall Percent of Campers Who Are Now Blue Swimmers: 74%

Galowich Family YMCA:

• Red Swimmers to Yellow Swimmers: 14
• Yellow Swimmers to Blue Swimmers: 12
• Overall Percent of Campers Who Are Now Blue Swimmers: 46%

Morris Community YMCA:

• Red Swimmers to Yellow Swimmers: 8
• Yellow Swimmers to Blue Swimmers: 13
• Overall Percent of Campers Who Are Now Blue Swimmers: 47%

Smith Family YMCA:

• Red Swimmers to Yellow Swimmers: 21
• Yellow Swimmers to Blue Swimmers: 19
• Overall Percent of Campers Who Are Now Blue Swimmers: 52%

Registration is underway for fall swim lessons. To learn more, visit www.jolietymca.org or contact the Aquatics Director at your local YMCA branch.