Swim

After School

Learning to swim early opens up a whole new world of fun and fitness and is also a critically important life skill. We follow USA Swimming guidelines to ensure swimmers learn proper fundamentals and safety practices.

Whether you are part of our school community or our local community, we invite you and your family to participate in our swim program. Lowell's highly qualified lifeguards, instructors, and maintenance personnel make swimming safe, fun, and educational.

Swim Lessons - 2024–25 Sessions

List of 2 frequently asked questions.

  • Schedule

    Session 1: September 9–October 26, 2024
    Session 2: November 4, 2024–January 11, 2025 (registration opens October 21)
    Session 3: January 22–March 8, 2025 (registration opens January 6)
    Session 4: March 17–May 17, 2025 (registration opens March 3)

    When possible, a make-up week will be offered but is not guaranteed, at the end of each session. The make-up week is available at no cost to current students who have missed a class during the regular session. This week will also be used in the event that Lowell Aquatics has to cancel a class due to inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

  • Skill Levels

    • Tadpoles (Intro/Beginners; Level 1): Swimmers learn about pool safety and get acclimated to being in and around a pool. They learn basic exercises and skills that lay the foundation for developing primary swimming strokes. The focus is on fundamental skills that include holding one’s breath, air exchange, floating, kicking, and arm motions for freestyle and backstroke.
    • Goldfish (Freestyle and Backstroke; Level 2): Students build on fundamental techniques at this level. They learn to balance in the water, hold the correct body position, and understand how their motions enable them to move through the water. Goldfish also work on building coordination, strength, proper freestyle and backstroke kicks, arm motions, and swimming on their own in shallow and deep ends of the pool.
    • Catfish (Stroke Refinement; Level 3): In Catfish, students in this class will continue to build on the fundamentals taught in the Goldfish class and incorporate endurance, breathing techniques, diving, and introducing them to breaststroke and butterfly. Swimmers will swim the length of the pool performing specific drills to increase their understanding, strength, and overall technique of each of the four strokes. Swimmers will begin each class using fins. As their ability increases, the duration of fin use will decrease until they can swim entirely without fins.
    • Stingrays (Pre Team; Level 4): Students will continue to build on the techniques and skills introduced in the Catfish classes. Students will also be introduced to breaststroke, butterfly, diving, and developing their endurance and muscle memory. Students who wish to enroll in Stingrays must be able to swim two lengths of the pool in both freestyle (front crawl) and backstroke (back crawl) without swimming aids or personal floatation devices. Students will focus on the fundamentals of age-group swimming as stated by USA Swimming.

Guidelines

List of 9 items.

  • Age

    Swimmers must be at least three years of age and toilet trained.

  • Safety

    ALL age-eligible swimmers must be fully vaccinated to participate in group and private swim lessons

    Running is prohibited on the pool deck.

    Swim diapers or “rubber bottoms” are not allowed.

  • COVID-19 Vaccination

    ALL swimmers must be fully vaccinated (including all available boosters) by their first class. Please upload a photo/copy of swimmer's vaccination card via the registration portal before the session begins.

  • Water Bottles

    Please make sure each swimmer has a filled water bottle.

  • Suit + Goggles

    Preparation for the class includes a bathing suit, towel, and willing attitude. Children may come in suits or use the changing area provided.

    Please, no long sleeve swimming shirts. They cause too much drag and do not allow the child to learn proper arm movements.

    If your child needs goggles, you must provide them. Please have them on your child before class starts.

    Students enrolled in the Catfish class and above must wear goggles. We will loan goggles in case of emergency.

    The best possible goggles for a child have clear lenses, allowing the swimmer to focus better during class.

  • Hair

    Please make sure that if your child has longer hair, it is securely pulled back from the face so it will not get in the way during the lesson.

  • Meals

    No eating within an hour before swimming class. Food and drink (with the exception of water bottles) is not permitted in the pool area.

  • Arrival

    Please try to be here at least five minutes before class starts to allow time to get ready.

  • Parents + Visitors

    Parents are not allowed to join their children in the water for lessons. Please do not register for regular classes until your child is ready to be independent in the water and can listen and follow simple directions as part of a group. Inability to do so could result in class reassignment.

    Only parents/guardians of swimmers ages 7 and younger will be allowed on the pool deck for the duration of the lesson. One parent may come inside at a time. They must be fully vaccinated and complete the symptom screening before entering the pool facility.
Registration for all sessions can be completed on CampBrain using this link.

Private and Semi-Private Lessons

A very limited number of private lessons are offered, as instructors are available. All available private lesson options are listed in real-time in the registration portal. 

Semi-private lessons may be available to families where both swimmers are on the same ability level. After registration, please follow up with After School staff to arrange. 
1640 Kalmia Road NW
Washington, DC 20012
202-577-2000