At Goldfish Swim School, kids have an extra incentive to keep advancing through swim lessons: A chance to show off their skills and speed in Swim Force! Kids can join our in-house swim team, Swim Force, once they have graduated out of our top swimming lesson level, Pro 2. It’s the next step to continue developing their swimming skills and introduce young swimmers to this fun team sport!

“The goal of Swim Force is to focus on additional techniques, and to build endurance and stamina through our workouts,” said Clarey Collins, Curriculum Development Manager for Goldfish Swim School. “And to give them that exposure to what the competitive world of swimming looks like and prepare them for that.”

Kids ages 5-12 can join Swim Force at any time throughout the year – there is no “season” like in other sports. Even if your little swimmer didn’t take lessons at Goldfish, he or she can join Swim Force – provided they can pass tests to determine if they’re ready.

Typically, students are separated by ability to allow for working at the same skill levels.

“Then we’re able to teach individually,” Clarey said. One of the benefits to breaking up the swimmers by ability, Clarey said, is that they don’t leave feeling “defeated” that they can’t keep up. It’s all about preparing them for the next step, Clarey said.

And that next step? Competition! In addition to weekly “workouts,” there are voluntary quarterly swim meets.

Great things about Swim Force

“There are so many things that I personally love about Swim Force,” Clarey said. “It’s great in so many ways.”

Here are 6 Reasons Swim Force rocks:

1. It’s one day a week

We know you’re busy, and the once-a-week Swim Force workouts mean no overextending your family with a commitment to a team activity that has multiple practices per week.

“This allows children to be involved in swimming,” Clarey said. “And it still gives them that flexibility to do other activities as well.”

2. Workouts are for one hour

Having one-hour workouts versus the typical Goldfish Swim School half-hour swim lessons gives your child plenty of time to play and learn using The Science of SwimPlay®.

“We know that children and students learn through play,” Clarey said. “We carry that philosophy through our Swim Force as well.”

3. Don’t have to give up lessons

Your child may have progressed through all the levels of swim lessons at Goldfish Swim School, but that’s no reason to stop learning! In Swim Force, children still receive individual attention and direction since there are coaches within each lane.

“Coaches are in the water giving instruction on their strokes,” Clarey said. “They’re making stroke corrections, so they don’t form bad habits.”

4. Socialization

One of the most important aspect of a team sport is the socialization that comes along with it, building relationships and learning to work together.

“It’s an opportunity to compete and to feel what it’s like to be on a team,” Clarey said. “They go from a smaller class size of three others to potentially being in a team atmosphere and feeling what that’s like.”

5. Building confidence

The more often kids practice anything, the more adept at it they become – and swimming is no different. Being part of the Goldfish Swim School Swim Force allows children to gain confidence not only in their swimming abilities, but in themselves as they see their accomplishments over time.

“We offer a quarterly swim meet should they choose to compete,” Clarey said.

The swim meets allow the swimmers to showcase their skills in a team setting, but in a non-competitive way.

6. Skill improvements

Swim Force prepares kids for team sports and competitive swimming, but ultimately, the goal is building stroke technique and enhancing skills kids already possess.

“We focus on students becoming more proficient in both technique and stamina,” Clarey said.

Students continue perfecting their swim strokes for the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – and also learn new racing skills including turns and finishes.

Changes to Swim Force

When we find something that benefits the swimmers even more, we move to implement changes. That’s why we’re incorporating new, fresh workouts.

“We believe it’s always good to keep things fresh and cutting edge,” Clarey said.

In addition, one of the areas we’re putting emphasis on is making sure children feel welcomed to the team.

“When they graduate from Pro 2, we’re adding some fun things to help them take that next step,” Clarey said. “We created a ‘welcome to the team’ sign, that they will hold up, and take a picture with the coach.”

Plus, kids will receive a medal when they join the team!

“We want to make them feel special and comfortable!” Clarey said. “We go that extra mile to get them excited about Swim Force.”

One of the new enhancements is the addition of a stretch time at the beginning of each workout to make sure kids are stretched out and ready to go. And, hydration breaks have been added to ensure kids stay hydrated during workouts!

“One of the reasons why is because you can’t tell if you’re sweating in the water, but the reality of the situation is you’re burning so many calories,” Clarey said. “It’s important they stay hydrated during the workout.”

Oh…and we’re also rolling out some new swag. Swim Force swimming caps, bags and T-shirts are available.

“We want them to feel special, we want to celebrate those moments,” Clarey said. “The whole idea for Swim Force is we help prepare them for competitive swimming, in a fun low-pressure environment.”

Want to join one of our programs? Join a Swim Team Near You

Join Goldfish Swim School

Stop by a Goldfish Swim School location near you and sign up for lessons or Swim Force today! Our instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to teach kids ages 4 months and older how to swim, and you’ll be able to see some extraordinary results! Plus, we provide WOW! customer service because we want your family to have a GOLDEN experience every time.