FOSS Swim Path®: The Swim Stronger Program
Teaching Strokes, Advanced Swimming Skills, and Building Endurance
Graduates of the Swim Stronger program will:
- Build confidence through improving endurance
- Master the patterns of the four competitive strokes
- Swim 300 yards continuously with freestyle
- Learn the basics of a swim team structure
When most people picture swimming at Foss Swim School, they think of our Learn to Swim program. And with good reason: Over the past three decades, we have taught more than a quarter of a million students how to be stronger, safer swimmers. For those who want to go beyond the basics, though, we have two additional programs, Swim Stronger and Swim Faster.
Our co-founder, Jon Foss, was a competitive swim coach before he founded Foss Swim School. He built our curriculum by deconstructing the motions of accomplished swimmers so that, from the very start, our students learn the best way to perform swim skills.
Learn to Swim graduates are comfortable in water and able to swim confidently but they did not focus on perfecting the strokes. They will have lots of experience with the front crawl/freestyle and backstroke, but were only introduced to the butterfly and breaststroke. The Swim Stronger program picks up where Learn to Swim ended.
Swim Stronger: Putting Together the Four Competitive Strokes
In the Swim Stronger program, students will go further than the basics taught in learning to swim so they can become more advanced swimmers. In these classes, with teachers still in the water to help with positioning, students will work towards four milestones:
LEARN THE PATTERNS
All four competitive strokes are put together, and students learn the proper patterns (timing and sequence of arm and leg motions).
TURNS AND FINISHES
How to flip between lengths and transition between strokes, and how to complete a swim legally in a competitive setting.
COMPLETE THE STROKE
One standard for graduation from Swim Stronger is to swim a 200-yard individual medley, which includes one 50–yard lap of each stroke.
BUILDING ENDURANCE
Over the three levels, students will gradually increase their distances until they can complete 300 yards without breaks.
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.
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.
Why Join the Swim Stronger Program?
Swim Stronger sets students up to move right into a community or school swim team. Others will not have an interest in competitive swimming, but will graduate as highly competent recreational swimmers, able to participate in triathlons, group swims or just swim for a lifetime of health.
The Swim Stronger program is also an excellent lead-in to the Swim Faster program for people who want to experience or prepare for competitive swimming.
Our goal at FOSS is to help every swimmer reach their full potential in the water. While FOSS doesn’t have its own team, we do what we can to prepare passionate swimmers to experience the rush and excitement and self-fulfillment of competitive swimming. If this sounds like a path your swimmer would enjoy, we hope you’ll look into these exciting programs!
