Week of July 20th

We started off with our weekly swim test as usual. This week the Ducks and Dragons continued to focus on freestyle and backstroke. They are very good at cheering each other on! The <strong>Dragons</strong>, <strong>Hawks</strong>, <strong>Sharks, Gators</strong> and <strong>Big Dogs</strong> all learned a new swim skill. They learned how to do flip turns. A flip turn is when you are swimming and then once you get to the wall, flip landing with your feet flat against the wall, push off and continue swimming. We will continue working on this skill but they did great for their first try. Besides that they continued to strengthen their freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. 

Amanda 

Week of July 13th

We started off our week with our weekly swim test. The campers are showing some real improvement! The <strong>Ducks</strong> continued to work on their freestyle and backstroke basics. More and more are now able to swim the width of the pool. The <strong>Dragons, Hawks, Sharks</strong>, and <strong>Gators</strong> continued to work on their backstroke like last week. They are looking stronger and stronger everyday. The <strong>Gators</strong> and <strong>Big Dogs</strong> continued to work on their breaststroke. We practiced kicking and adding our arms in. It is getting better than we started. On Wednesday the campers played a game called King Fisher. It allows them to practice their endurance as they have to continually get out and swim from width to width until everyone is out. Of course we finished the week with Free Swim Friday.

Amanda

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<strong>Week of July 6th</strong> We started our week like we normally do with our weekly swim test on Monday to see how the campers are improving and what still needs to be worked on. Throughout the rest of the week the groups either worked on strengthening their backstroke or began breaststroke. The <strong>Ducks</strong> continued working on being comfortable in the water and practiced floating, kicking, freestyle arm strokes, kicking on their back, and blast offs of the wall. They are making great progress! Some of the campers in the Duck group can even make it the width of the pool doing freestyle. The <strong>Dragons, Hawks, Gophers,</strong> and <strong>Gators</strong> worked on strengthening their backstroke this week. They learned some backstroke drills. These drills included kicking on their back in a streamline, swimming backstroke with just their right arm and then next time around with just their left arm for one length of the pool. They also did double arm backstroke. I was very happy when many of them told me they were practicing what they were learning at camp in their pools at home! The <strong>Sharks</strong> and <strong>Big Dogs</strong> began breaststroke this week. We started off the week focusing on the breaststroke kick. They learned how to do it on land first and then we moved in the pool to put it to the test. They started off doing it on their back trying not to let their knees come out of the water. Then they did it the correct way on their stomachs. As the week progressed both groups learned the breaststroke arms to go with the kick. We will continue working on breaststroke all of next week as well. As always we finished off the week with free swim Friday. The campers really deserved it this week as they all worked very hard during swim time. Amanda <strong>Second Week of Camp</strong> This week we worked on a lot of the same techniques as last week. All the groups continued to improve on the techniques they were introduced to last week. The Ducks were put in groups where they worked with one of the counselors on either kicking freestyle with a kickboard, kicking with a kickboard with freestyle arms, and blowing bubbles. They also proved they could all float on their backs. The Dragons continue to work on freestyle as well. The Hawks and Gophers continued working on freestyle and added in some more backstroke practice. The Gators, Sharks, and Big Dogs worked on more freestyle and backstroke as well. Next week they will be introduced to breaststroke which always proves to be an interesting challenge that I am sure they will all embrace! All the groups except the Ducks and Dragons were able to try a specific challenge this week of trying to hold their breath while swimming under water from one side of the pool to the other with the least amount of breaths as possible! There were many campers who made it with one breath or less! We will finish of the week tomorrow with Free Swim Friday. I hope everyone has a safe and fun fourth of July weekend! Amanda <strong>First Week of Camp</strong> All the groups learned a lot at the pool this week! Monday started out with a simple swim test to see where each of the groups were at. During the rest of the week each group worked on various swim techniques. The Ducks and Dragons practiced their freestyle kick during Red Light Green Light and Simon Says. They were then paired up with a counselor where they practiced their kicking, blowing bubbles, floating on their backs and freestyle arms. They made sure to practice big arms for freestyle so they could pull as much water as possible. The Hawks and Gophers started out the week working on freestyle. They were able to practice their freestyle kicks with a kick board, blowing bubbles, side breathing and freestyle arms. They focused on making big arm scoops so that they could pull as much water as possible. Once they mastered that they learned a trick to going faster in the water. They learned about streamlines where they stack both hands over top of each other and then put their arms over their heads. They use this when pushing off the wall. At the end of the week the Hawks and Gophers started to practice their backstroke kicks making sure to keep their heads back facing the sky and not starring at their toes. The Gators started out their week practicing freestyle. They were masters at that so we quickly moved to backstroke. The Gators also learned about streamlines just like the Hawks and the Gophers. During backstroke the Gators worked on kicking with their arms in a streamline. They also learned that when doing backstroke arms to make sure their arms reach all the way up by their ears so they can pull as much water as possible to propel them forward. The All Sports group practiced kicking with a kick board, side breathing, freestyle arms, and streamlines. By the end of the week we started to practice kicking on our backs to prepare for backstroke. As always, we finished the week with Free Swim Friday! We will continue practicing these techniques throughout the duration of camp. I am looking forward to seeing all the campers improve and have fun at the pool! Swim Instructor, Amanda