SWIM STRONGER: SWIM FOR ENDURANCE
Building Up to a 300-Yard Freestyle Swim in Swim Stronger Milestone 4 of 4
Students who reach the Swim for Endurance milestone will:
- Graduate from the Swim Stronger program!
- Have all the skills needed to move on to club or team swimming
- Demonstrate a high standard of strength and endurance
- Standard for mastery: 300-yard freestyle with no breaks
In the first three milestones of the Swim Stronger program, students learn the patterns of the four competitive strokes, how to turn and finish in a pool, and how to swim a 200-yard individual medley. The final piece is developing the strength and cardiovascular ability to swim for a significant amount of time. That’s why our final milestone focuses on endurance.
In many ways, this final milestone is about focus and motivation. At this point in the program, students aren’t learning new skills – they are instead applying all the skills they have learned over a longer period of time.
This means building muscle and aerobic endurance, but it also takes mental fortitude to start a long swim and stay on task until it’s over – something our teachers can help students achieve.
Milestone 4: Swim for Endurance with a 300-Yard Swim
Like the third milestone, students apply their skills over a longer distance: 300 yards (or 900 feet), the equivalent of six laps in a typical lap pool. Swimmers perform only one stroke: freestyle, the fastest and most efficient. While many swimmers can go beyond that length, we feel the 300-yard distance is a worthy indicator of the ability to “swim stronger.”
Safety
At the most basic level, it’s a distance that should enable a person who is unexpectedly in the water to stay afloat or reach safety.
Consistency
At this distance, patterns and skills are truly locked in – keeping proper form for a few repetitions or a short period of time is much easier than maintaining good form longer. A swimmer whose form breaks down will lose efficiency and may not complete the distance. Reaching 300 yards is a good indicator of consistent form.
Repetition
Lastly, spending the last few sessions of the class getting to 300 yards in one go is a way to compensate for the relatively few hours a student may have in the pool. Spending a full hour working on endurance helps students progress despite fewer opportunities to swim.
The Swim Stronger Levels
We teach students to Swim for Endurance in the Big 5 level. Ask a teacher about moving on to Swim Stronger when you graduate from Learn to Swim, or if you are new to FOSS, consider a Preview Lesson to determine if Swim Stronger is right for your student.
The Swim Stronger Levels
We teach students to Swim for Endurance in the Big 5 level. Ask a teacher about moving on to Swim Stronger when you graduate from Learn to Swim, or if you are new to FOSS, consider a Preview Lesson to determine if Swim Stronger is right for your student.
Graduating and Moving On: The Swim Faster Program
Once a student has accomplished all four milestones in Swim Stronger, they can take pride in their mastery of a wonderful skill they can practice for a lifetime. For some students, this will be the end of their swim school experience.
But for other students – some of whom aspire to competitive swimming, others who simply enjoy the challenge – FOSS also offers a final program called Swim Faster. This program is structured more like a swim team, but without competitive meets.
Many excellent competitive swimmers started their Swim Path at FOSS, including world record holders and Olympic athletes like Regan Smith. But wherever your journey takes you, to the excitement of a meet or the relaxation of a lake or local pool, learning to Swim Stronger will serve you well!
