Skills Required For Pre-Hawks: For a child to enter the Pre-Hawk program they must be water safe. A child is considered water safe if they can be in the pool without an adult and keep themselves afloat and moving forward on their stomach and on their back. We recommend the child have recreational swim lessons prior to entering this program. They must also be able to understand and follow directions in a group setting.

Skills Taught In Pre-Hawks: In the Pre-Hawk program children are taught what the four different strokes are (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle). Proper technique is the main focus for this group. For freestyle, children are taught rotary breathing, alternate stroking of the arms over the water surface, and how to keep their body level in the water with a steady flutter kick. Children apply similar techniques in backstroke, with the same flutter kick, and alternating arm entry in the water. In this group the children begin to learn the two short access strokes (butterfly and breaststroke). The children first learn the kicks for each using kickboards, and slowly begin to learn the arm movement. The breaststroke kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog. The butterfly kick is an undulating dolphin kick with both feet together. Average distance in one practice: 400 – 500 yards (16 to 20 lengths).

Moving Up to Age Group One: The swimmer must show understanding of distance (25 yards = 1 length; 50 yards = 2 lengths; 75 yards = 3 lengths, 100 yards = 4 lengths). A swimmer must be able to complete a 100 freestyle using rotary breathing and proper arm technique and be able to swim a 50 backstroke with correct head position and arm entry into the water. A swimmer must also be proficient in their butterfly and breaststroke kicks and have begun to understand the arm movements of both strokes. The attendance requirement for a Pre-Hawk swimmer to move up to Age Group is 75% of all practices (3-4 times per week). The swimmer must have attended at least one swim meet prior to moving into Age Group. Swimmers must also exemplify good behavior by listening to directions and being on task while in practice.