FOSS Swim Path®: The Learn to Swim Program
Helping Students of Every Age and Ability Learn to Swim With Confidence
Graduates of the Learn to Swim program will:
- Demonstrate confidence in and around the water
- Apply core water safety skills in an emergency
- Master the basics of the four competitive strokes
- Swim 300 feet efficiently with Backstroke and Front Crawl
In the Learn to Swim program at Foss Swim School, students take their first step on the Swim Path, our unique approach to helping students become confident, stronger swimmers. The Swim Path is built around a series of milestones and skills that students master, and it recognizes that learning to swim is a unique experience for each student. Students might begin as babies, or as teens; they might have some swim skills or be experiencing a pool for the first time.
At FOSS, we focus on progress towards graduation rather than moving up a level. Levels are a way for us to group students by their experience stage. Because each student’s journey is unique, the true mark of progress is the milestones every lesson builds towards. It’s common for students to continue in the same level on their Swim Path journey.
The Four Learn to Swim Milestones
There are four milestones in the Learn to Swim program, each reached by mastering a number of different skills. At every lesson, students work on skills in a particular order. Mastering these four milestones makes a student a graduate of our Learn to Swim program:
WATER ADJUSTMENT
Learning to swim starts with understanding and respecting the water. We guide students through learning how water feels, how it can help you float, and how to get comfortable being immersed and submerged.
FLOAT UP
In the Float Up milestone, students will learn to confidently float by maintaining proper body position while using propulsive hands and feet to move in the water.
FLIP TO BREATHE
Flip to Breathe introduces the safety stroke. The safety stroke allows students to swim independently to safety. This is an essential lifesaving stroke that young swimmers can learn very early in life.
SWIM CONFIDENTLY
Finally, Swim Confidently ensures they can swim 300 feet efficiently. This is where skills learned earlier, such as the safety stroke, naturally build into the basics of the four competitive strokes: front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, and butterfly.
Where should your new swimmer begin? There are two ways to find the likely right class. You can use the Swim Path tool on our site and find the likely level by answering questions and estimating your students’ ability, or schedule a free Preview Lesson.
Find Your Level
Where should your new swimmer begin? There are two ways to find the likely right class. You can use the Swim Path tool on our site and find the likely level by answering questions and estimating your students’ ability, or schedule a free Preview Lesson.
Learn to Swim the Swim Path® Way – Guaranteed
By understanding the different milestones that indicate how a student is progressing towards graduation – Water Adjustment, Float Up, Flip to Breathe, and Swim Confidently – and why each is important to learning, parents can better understand what their student is learning and how it comes together to develop a safer, more confident swimmer.
We are so confident in this approach that we even guarantee it. While it’s normal for students to continue making progress at the same level, we have processes in place to provide additional support as needed. If a student continues at the same level for four quarters in a row, we will cover 50% of the cost for any additional quarters spent at that level. (Conditions apply, so check out the full details of our Swimmers, Guaranteed program here.)
Once your student has passed all the milestones of the Learn to Swim program, they will graduate as capable swimmers, ready to take the next step and learn to Swim Stronger.
