Group Swimming Lessons

Beginner Swimming Classes

This is a unique class for those who are new to swimming and require a little bit more support in the water. Beginner classes are taken with an adult in the water to guide our Dolphins through their skills and aims to make happy and confident swimmers.

Children in this group learn fundamental skills which are the building blocks for their swimming journey, ready to start their independent classes from Stage 1.

Awards Achieved: Dolphin Level 1

“My daughter Evie absolutely loves this class, she smiles as soon as she comes through to the poolside and sees her teacher Becky. To know my daughter is already safe around water and swimming without me is brilliant. I am amazed at her progress at such a young age!” Danny Allen (Evie, aged 2)

Stage 1

This is our first independent stage for those ages 4+ who are water confident. At Dolphin Academy, we believe in getting our beginners swimming a faster pace and therefore we always maximise their water time. Our unique methods of focusing on body positioning and kicking on top of the water have proven results of not only getting them to swim unaided, but also learning fundamental skills which we believe are of paramount importance to their development into a strong swimmer. This class also teaches paddling, floating, diving and aims to equip your child with water confidence and the ability to swim 25 metres unaided on both their front and back.

Awards Achieved: Dolphin level 1, Dolphin level 2, 5m distance award, 10m distance award, 25m distance award

“Eli has been coming to swimming with Becky since he was a baby and he is now a water confident 2 year old! The best teacher ever and always goes the extra mile for the kids. Would recommend Dolphin Academy to anyone wanting to take their children swimming!” Rachel Smith (Eli, aged 2)

My daughter has been going for about a year now and I can see a massive difference. When she joined she couldn’t swim and didn’t like putting her head in the water, she wouldn’t even jump in without crying. Now one year later and having only just turned 4 years old she can now swim independently (up to 50m) and can do a full length of back stroke with arms and is now learning front crawl! She does sitting dives and has even asked to jump in..... no more tears!” Kim Barton (Ava, aged 4)

Stage 4

These classes are for those who can swim all four strokes and can comfortably swim between 100-200 meters. In this stage, the emphasis is on fitness and so swimmers will be asked to complete each skill/drill for 50 meters so they can hold their stroke technique for longer distances. There is also a lot of emphasis on streamline positioning, with plenty of explanation on the importance of it and on how to become a more efficient swimmer. Butterfly and breaststroke are really broken down and perfected in this stage, and we aim to put together all the competitive skills taught in the previous stages to make our leaners complete swimmers.

Awards Achieved: Dolphin level 6, 200m distance award

“My daughter has recently started swimming lessons and loves it. All the staff are lovely and the class sizes are perfect. Suzanne Goodier” (Phoebe, aged 8)

Stage 5

This is our final stage. The learners in this class are strong and confident swimmers and can swim good technique in all 4 strokes. The swimming lessons in stage five focus on perfecting all aspects of their stroke including correct starts and turns, and on the introduction of lane discipline. This stage acts as a pre-club stage before learners progress into our Top Squad, which gives the opportunity for competitive swimming.

Awards Achieved: Dolphin level 7, ASA Bronze award, 400m distance award

“Max has become such a strong and confident swimmer during his time with Becky, Brian and other fab teachers at Dolphin Academy. Max previously had lessons at a local authority pool and made little progress there, mainly due to large class sizes and a one size fits all approach. Max has autism and it’s thanks to the patience of all at Dolphin Academy that Max now looks forward to his swimming lessons!” Debbie Tomlinson (Max, aged 8)