Absolutely. During morning lessons, campers are divided into small instructional groups and work with one or two teachers. In addition, there is always a lifeguard in the Guard Chair at both pools. During free swim time, there are at least two certified guards at each pool, one in the chair and the other on the deck. Then there are 6 safety spotters at each pool spaced evenly to assure that every area of the pool is under constant supervision. Also, many staff are in the water playing with the campers.

Yes. We have 4-5 Water Safety Instructors at the pools. This very competent group leads the instruction, while every Group Leader, Counselor and Jr. Counselor assists in the swim instruction.

Former campers continue from where they left off last summer, unless parents indicate that there has been further instruction over the winter. There is an opportunity on our registration form for new campers to let us know there current Red Cross Swim Level, if known. Otherwise, all campers are tested by our Water Safety Instructors on the first day of the session. 

That’s okay! Our staff watches the campers very closely during the swim tests and anticipates that some campers may have an unrealistic opinion of their abilities. With very young campers, the staff will walk right next to them in the water.

That’s what we’ll work on! Water adjustment is taught at Level One. For the younger campers we have a wading pool for gaining comfort in the water. Campers are always gently encouraged to progress, but never forced.

One pool begins at 3 feet and gradually slopes down to 5 feet. Most of our campers are able to stand up with their heads out of the water in the shallow end. The deep end of the pool is 9 feet. The other pool is 3 1/2 feet at the shallow ends and slopes down to 4 1/2 feet in the middle.

All children are encouraged to participate in swimming lessons, as we feel that swimming is a very important life skill, both for safety and enjoyment. As the group’s staff is involved in the teaching of lessons, all campers in the group must be in the pool area, for supervisory reasons.