Learn to Swim at Dolphin Swimming Club
Puffins, level 1
To progress to Guppies - level 2, a swimmer must be able to:
- kick on their front without aid, with face submerged, blowing bubbles
- demonstrate proficiency when kicking within the body line
- float on their back confidently
- regain a standing position from front and back, and be tall enough to stand in water in level 2
Guppies, level 2
To progress to Clownfish - level 3, a swimmer must be able to:
- push and glide away from the sidewall of the pool
- kick on their front and back unassisted without aids
- rotate from their front to their back and return to their front again, and regain a standing position
- develop aquatic breathing patterns and techniques
- demonstrate object locomotor skill development - picking up objects from the bottom of the pool in shallow water, using floatation devices correctly
- enter and exit pool safely and without assistance
- begin to understand and demonstrate arm movements and kick fluidity of front and backcrawl
Clownfish, level 3
To progress to Starfish - level 4, a swimmer must be able to:
- demonstrate an efficient frontcrawl & backcrawl
- rotate the body 360 degrees without touching the pool floor, sidewalls or any other object (locomotor manipulation)
- demonstrate concurrent, rotary & bi-lateral breathing on front and backcrawl
- demonstrate fundamentals of streamlining - push and glide on their front and back off a wall and the floor
- floating competently on their front and back
- demonstrate an ability to maintain the hips and legs in a high position on backcrawl and remain efficient
- perform a surface dive
Starfish, level 4
To progress to Dolphins - level 5, a swimmer must be able to:
- swim frontcrawl and backcrawl perfectly - demonstrate good body position, legs, arms breathing and timing on both strokes
- swim 5 metres breaststroke arms
- kick 10 metres correct, simultaneous breaststroke kick (on a kickboard or with snorkel as a floatation aid in front)
- demonstrate a development of the fundamentals of streamlining - push and glide on their front and back off a wall and hold streamline for at least 2metres
- swim through a hoop from floating position - locomotor manipulation, change of direction and speed
- demonstrate a hand-stand from the bottom of the pool (deep end - 1.6m to 2.2m)
- tread water effectively and calmly for 30 seconds
Dolphins, level 5
To graduate from Dolphins - level 5, a swimmer must be able to:
- demonstrate a forward somersault from a treading water position - locomotor & stability manoeuvres
- demonstrate a kneeling dive and a seated dive from the poolside
- demonstrate an understanding and ability of bilateral breathing
- swim 10 metres frontcrawl efficiently and competently while breathing to the side (bi-laterally)
- swim 10 metres backcrawl effectively and competently while keeping the head still and breathing with rhythm
- swim 10 metres breastroke efficiently - simultaneous kick & arm timing, efficient head position & timing of breathing patterns within the stroke cycle, demonstrate legal and simultaneous feet position on breaststroke at recovery and propulsion phases of the kick
Graduating from Dolphins level 5, a swimmer is finished with the DSC LTSP. Congratulations!
Should places be available in our PRE-COMPETITIVE and NON-COMPETITIVE lane swimming sessions, the swimmer graduating from LTSP will be offered a place there, depending on which route is desired. If however, there are not any places available, the swimmer has the option of going on a waiting list. In Dolphin, we try to clear all waiting lists for the entry-level competitive and non-competitive squads into the club as swiftly as possible so the swimmer’s transition may continue with as little interruption as possible. Priority is generally given to swimmers seeking to join our competitive and non-competitive programmes to those who have come through our internal LTSP system, although exceptions may apply in certain cases.
Please email info@dolphinsc.ie if you are interested in joining our LTS programme.