Swim lessons aim for student progress

These aren’t your grandmother’s swimming lessons, or even your mom’s, for that matter.

The Progressive Swimming Program at Whitworth College’s Aquatic Center is a seven-week summer program designed to allow students to progress through required skills at their own pace and to move into competitive programs if they wish – but only if that’s their goal.

Former Whitworth swimmer Gary Kessie, now the assistant community aquatics program coordinator, is the director of the innovative program, with which he first became familiar in his hometown of Hermiston, Ore., and then took to Pendleton, Ore.

Placement day, to determine which of five levels fits kids best, is Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Aquatic Center, and lessons begin Monday continuing five days a week through Aug. 11, with a weeklong Fourth of July break.

The minimum age is 5.

Lessons are 30 minutes at the Guppy, Minnow and Stingray levels and 45 minutes for the more advanced Dolphins and Sharks. Regardless of where students are placed, as soon as they complete a level, they move to the next group.

Each group reviews skills from the previous level and begins to learn new ones.

“PSP is different from traditional lessons in that usually kids take lessons in two-week blocks, regardless of their skills,” said Kessie.

“In PSP, when kids accomplish the benchmark skills in their group, they move on immediately, even if it’s in the middle of the week.

“My hope is to promote the sport of competitive swimming, and the lessons and skills we teach are geared toward that, although kids are not required to compete. A summerlong program exposes kids to swimming more often, even if the lessons are short.

“Our goal is also to promote water safety. By teaching the lessons the way we do, we hope to develop a safer aquatic atmosphere no matter where kids are swimming, whether it’s in the pool or at the lake.”

Saturday is the only registration day, and the cost of seven weeks of lessons is $220. Students do not incur an additional cost as they progress to longer lessons.

Kessie stressed that although PSP is often a feeder program for local swim clubs, the emphasis at Whitworth will be upon having students progress through competitive stroke skills whether or not they choose to compete.