Calgary Swimming Lessons
Our swim lessons follow the Lifesaving Society’s well-established Swim for Life® Program.
The Swim for Life® program has many different levels so participants can progress at a good pace and accomplish specific goals at each step. We worked closely with the Lifesaving Society to customize a program that ensures we continue to offer the same high level of instruction and competitive swimming options you have come to expect from our programming. Transitioning to the Swim for Life® program is an opportunity for us to align with many other facilities throughout the city, including the City of Calgary.
Whether transitioning from our current programming or another facility our chart below will help to determine what Swim for Life® level to enroll in:
- Swim Program Comparison Chart (moving from I Can Swim to Swim for Life®)
Resources
Lifesaving Society Certificates
Click here for Spring & Summer Program Guide
Spring & Summer Program Registration dates:
Members: February 12, 2024
Non-Members: February 20, 2024
Fall Program Registration dates:
Members: July 15, 2024
Non-Members: July 22, 2024
Winter Program Registration dates:
Members: November 12, 2024
Non-Members: November 18, 2024
For more information, please contact:
Phone: 403.355.1286
Email: swimlessons@mnpcentre.com
Why Choose MNP Community & Sport Centre Swim Programs?
- Amazing instructors! Our team is passionate and knowledgeable about swimming and enjoy helping people of all ages learn in the water – we do it because we love it!
- High quality programs! Our programs are tailored to meet your needs, while providing skill-based instruction to support development of strong swimmers.
- Amazing facility! Swimmers will be inspired to learn and train in our water alongside international-level athletes! We have a warm shallow teach pool, two 50m pools and a dive tank to explore.
- Easy access! We are centrally located in a prime location close to downtown. Great value! We offer a variety of programs for all ages and skill levels at competitive rates.
Curious about the progression of aquatic programs?
Download our Aquatic Lesson Progression Flowchart
Download our Lifeguard and Swim Instructor Certification Pathway
Coming to us from another swimming program?
Swim Lessons
Parent & Tot
Parent & Tot 1 (4-12 Months)
Parents and babies will explore the water together under the watchful eyes of their instructor. They will learn how to safely enter and exit the water and work on getting ready to discover the water safely. Parents will learn how to safely support their child while they play.
Parent & Tot 2 (12-24 Months)
Instructors will lead sessions to help parents with children learn basic water safety skills in a welcoming environment. Parents are taught how to support their child with assisted entries and exits into water and support them in learning to float and kick. They can celebrate together when the child can get their face wet and blow bubbles for the first time.
Pre-requisites: Parent & Tot 1 and 1 year of age
Parent & Tot 3 (2-3 Years)
Parents will work towards supporting their toddlers in becoming more independent in the water. Getting in, getting out, going under, and floating, parents and toddlers will be introduced to different iterations of these fundamental skills.
Pre-requisites: Parent & Tot 2 and 2 years of age.
Swim for Life® Preschool
Preschool 1
Preschoolers will be assisted by their instructor when learning to enter and exit water safely, jump into chest deep water, and put their faces in the water to blow bubbles. Becoming comfortable with floats and glides and moving safely in shallow water while wearing lifejackets will help them gain confidence with their water skills.
Pre-requisite: 3 years old
Preschool 1/2
In this combined program, preschoolers focus on the foundational skills of water comfort and body positioning, being introduced to bobs, jumps, floats and glides. Each participant has the opportunity to focus on skills built for their swim level.
Pre-requisite: Preschool 1 or an equivalent level
Preschool 2
Preschoolers will work on becoming more independent with their water skills. Some of these skills include jumping into chest deep water unassisted, submerging and exhaling underwater, and floating and gliding with various buoyant aids. They will be introduced to lateral rollovers and practice their flutter kick on their backs.
Pre-requisite: Preschool 1 or an equivalent level
Preschool 3
Preschoolers will kick and glide their way through the water on their fronts and backs. They will work on retrieving objects from the bottom in water that is waist deep, and work towards mastering their floats, rollovers, glides, and kicks. In this level they work their way into deeper water for side entries and jumping in with their lifejackets on.
Pre-requisite: Preschool 2 or an equivalent level
Preschool 4/5
In this combined program preschoolers will gain some independence in deep water and work towards achieving important swimming milestones. They will work through progressions in pursuit of completing 5 m swims of both front and back crawl, practicing different forms of entries into deeper water with and without lifejackets, and begin to develop life saving skills like treading water. Each participant has the opportunity to focus on skills built for their swim level.
Pre-requisite: Preschool 3 or an equivalent level
Swim for Life® Swimmer
Swimmer 1
Building the foundation of in-water skill development, beginner swimmers will gain confidence in the pool as they learn safe entries into various depths of water, treading water in a lifejacket, opening their eyes underwater, and breath control. Once they have learned their floats, glides, kicks and rollovers from front to back, they will front crawl their way into the next level.
Pre-requisite: 6 years of age, Preschool 4 or an equivalent level.
Swimmer 2
Swimmers will gain comfort in deeper water by jumping in, learning their sideways entry, and treading water without a lifejacket. Swimmers will be challenged by the introduction of various skills including, flutter kick on their front, back, and side, vertical whip kick with an aid, and swimming front crawl and back crawl for 10 m. Swimmers will get to work on their Swim to Survive skills and be introduced to interval training.
Pre-requisite: 6 years of age and Swimmer 1, Preschool 5 or an equivalent level.
Swimmer 3
The focus of Swimmer 3 is streamline positioning, propulsion and over-arm action for freestyle and back crawl. Swimmers build on skills taught in previous levels: whip kick, interval training and deep water skills and work-up to swimming 25m.
Pre-requisite: Swimmer 2 or an equivalent level.
Swimmer 4
The focus of Swimmer 4 is strength and endurance for freestyle and back crawl. Establishes basic movements and orientation ability needed for swimming skills like arm action, sculling and breathing. Swimmers are introduced to sprinting, underwater swims and components of breaststroke.
Pre-requisite: Swimmer 3 or an equivalent level.
Swimmer 5/6
In this combined program, swimmers will work through progressions for entries and exits they’ve learned so far. They will continue to practice surface support, underwater skills, the Swim to Survive standard skills, movement/swimming skills and fitness. Each participant has the opportunity to focus on skills built for their swim level.
Pre-requisite: Swimmer 4 or an equivalent level.
Canadian Swim Patrol
Swimmer 7/8/ 9
The Lifesaving Society’s Canadian Swim Patrol program is for swimmers who
are ready to go beyond learn-to-swim. The programs focus on developing strength and proficiency while introducing swimmers to the challenging world of lifesaving. Swimmers will have fun enhancing their capability in the water, increasing their physical conditioning, and learning lifesaving judgment. Each level will continue to develop swimmers’ strokes and provide a skill foundation that will prepare them for success in the Society’s Bronze Medal Awards. Each level of the Canadian Swim Patrol program has three modules: Water Proficiency, First Aid, and Recognition and Rescue. Every participant has the opportunity to focus on skills built for their swim level.
Pre-requisite: Swimmer 6 or an equivalent level
Swim Abilities
SwimAbilities® is a community-based, levelled swimming program geared towards children aged 3-16 with potential physical needs, cognitive delays, developmental delays, behavioural concerns, and/or anyone who may find it difficult to learn in regular lessons (e.g. because of challenges with maintaining focus). It is a learn to swim program with the skills broken down into small achievable steps. A caregiver or aide must be in the water with each participant, which means that all participants receive supervision and one-on-one attention while under the direction of a certified SwimAbilities® instructor.
Program delivery and skill modifications are designed to maximize learning for participants with various learning styles, sensory needs, communication barriers and cognitive abilities. Participants may begin SwimAbilities® at any level and the goal is to have them swimming as independently and safely as possible while also emphasizing fun!
Pre-requisite(s): No formal diagnosis is required and everyone is welcome to participate as long as they have a caregiver with them in the water.
Private Swim Lessons
These one-on-one sessions are catered to the participants needs, goals and capabilities. You will see advanced progression in technique, endurance and water safety. The sessions can be used to progress through The Lifesaving Society’s Swim For Life program or to solely focus on specific skills. Please be sure to communicate your goals with the instructor on the first day so they can tailor their long and short term plans accordingly.
The pricing listed below is for 1 individual, but we can add a second or third participant to the lesson for a discounted rate depending on your membership status. After registering one individual please email your class barcode and the full name(s) of the participant(s) you would like to add to swimlessons@mnpcentre.com.
One-Off Private Swim Lessons
3+ years
Note: We are currently at capacity for our One-Off Private Lessons. Please email privateswimlessons@mnpcentre.com for future inquiries.
If you are not able to find a registered private swim lesson that works for your schedule, check out our one-off private aquatic lessons. Each lesson is scheduled for one hour and you choose the time and frequency. Prices vary based on number of sessions purchased and number of participants in your group.
Note: Minimum of two weeks (14 days) notice to process these requests.
Number of Sessions | Annual Member Price* | Non-Annual Member Price |
ONE-ON-ONE | ||
4-12 sessions | $55/session | $65/session |
12+ sessions | $53/session | $63/session |
SEMI-PRIVATE (2 participants) | ||
4-12 sessions | $43/person/session | $53/person/session |
12+ sessions | $39/person/session | $48/person/session |
GROUP (3+ participants) | ||
4-12 sessions | $30/person/session | $36/person/session |
12+ sessions | $27/person/session | $33/person/session |
Adult Lessons
Adult Beginner
The Adult Beginner program is designed for swimmers with little to no experience in the water looking to learn how to swim. Participants will learn how to float, glide and kick on both their front and back in shallow water. They will develop Swim To Survive skills such as rolling from front to back, basic treading water techniques, submersions and entries. They’ll also work on shallow- and deep-water comfort in and out of a lifejacket. In the first level of our Adult Swimmer curriculum we introduce stroke progressions for freestyle and backstroke.
Adult Intermediate
The Adult Intermediate program is designed for swimmers with moderate experience in the water looking to build on their basic stroke and swimming skills. Participants will be introduced to lane etiquette, how to read/follow a set, introductory breath work, and swimming longer distances. They will work on Swim To Survive skills such as mastering deep water confidence, recovering from disorienting entries, advanced treading water techniques and underwater swimming. In the second level of our Adult Swimmer curriculum we build on freestyle and backstroke technique with an introduction to breaststroke progressions.
Adult Advanced
The Adult Advanced program is designed for swimmers comfortable lane swimming in deep water looking to refine their strokes while getting introduced to specialized swimming techniques. Participants will be introduced to a variety of different workouts emphasizing pacing, drill incorporation, high intensity interval training, endurance sets, breath work, rhythm and fitness. They will work on turns, dives and the intentional incorporation of different equipment such as (but not limited to): hand paddles, pull buoys and fins.
Registered Program Refund Policy
- A program cancellation made in writing 7 or more business days* before the start date of the program will be granted a full refund minus a $20 or 20% of program cost (whichever is more) administrative fee.
- A program cancellation made less than 7 business days before the start date of the program is not eligible for a refund.
- If a program is cancelled due to low enrolment registrants will have the option to have a credit applied to their account or a full refund.
- If an individual class is cancelled MNPCSC will first attempt to schedule a make-up class, otherwise registrants will have the option to have a credit applied to their account or a refund for the individual class.
- In the case of missed classes, no refunds or credits will be given.
- Exceptions where a full/ partial refund may be given regardless of the registered program cancelation policy can include Injury or illness preventing participation in the program- a date stamped doctors note MUST be provided. Other extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Department Manager.
*Business days refers to Monday – Friday excluding statutory holidays.
