Stuff to Know

Our Advanced Swim Program, or ASP, is a continuation of our learn to swim program. It gives your child the opportunity to advance their swimming skills in a different swimming environment, focusing on building endurance, advanced safety, and competitive swimming development.

We believe these new levels will provide swimmers with a clear progression path as they work towards their swimming goals. Whether your child is focused on improving endurance and safety, learning the fundamentals of competitive swimming, or preparing for a swim team, our coaches are dedicated to helping them succeed every step of the way.

Orca Level: 30-Minute Class, Advanced Endurance & Safety 

Requirement: Passed Shark Level
Swimmers in the Orca level will focus on building advanced endurance and mastering water safety techniques.  Swimmers will have a coach in the water with them to refine their technique, learn the basics of competitive swimming styles, and work on crucial water safety skills. This level is perfect for swimmers who are ready to push their limits while focusing on perfecting stroke mechanics and increasing confidence in the water. 

Marlin Level: 30-Minute Class, Introduction to Competitive Swimming 

Requirement: Passed Orca Level
Once swimmers have mastered Orca skills, they can move into the Marlin level. In this group, swimmers will learn advanced techniques such as the butterfly stroke, proper diving form (including standing dives), and flip turns. This is the ideal stage for swimmers to begin incorporating beginner swim team drills and gaining the foundational skills necessary for competitive swimming. 

Swim Team Readiness: 45-Minute Class, Preparing for the Competitive Team 

Requirement: Passed Marlin Level
The final level in our program is Swim Team Readiness. Here, swimmers will focus solely on preparing for competitive swim teams. With the guidance of a qualified swim team coach, swimmers will learn competitive starts, long-distance swimming techniques, and key elements of race strategy. This is a comprehensive program designed to ensure that swimmers are ready to step into a swim team environment with confidence and skill.

We believe these new levels will provide swimmers with a clear progression path as they work towards their swimming goals. Whether your child is focused on improving endurance and safety, learning the fundamentals of competitive swimming, or preparing for a swim team, our coaches are dedicated to helping them succeed every step of the way.

If your student is enjoying learning upper-level skills and wants to continue pushing their endurance, then our Swim Team Readiness program may be for them, even if they’re unsure of their interest in competitive swimming. We are partnered with the Fox Valley Wave Swim Team as well as the YMCA, but students are not required to join the swim team after graduating from our program. Many students enjoy learning their advanced turns and dives, and the push that the program gives them is a great way for students to continue to advance their skills past the Learn to Swim program.

Your swimmer is assessed each week by our Deck Managers following our skill focus weeks. Once your student has attained all the skills required in Shark, a skills test will be scheduled. If your child passes, they will be ready to move up to Orca. 

Once your child is enrolled in Orca, they will be assessed on the Skill Focus of the week for ASP. As they attain the skills for Orca, they will move to Marlin. The same process is used for the progression from Marlin to STR.

Address: Buchanan Kiewit Wellness Center – Lawrence University, 525 East College Avenue, Appleton, WI 54911

Parking: There is a parking lot off College Avenue and Alton Street; the entrance to this driveway is located off College Avenue only. Look for “Alice G Chapman Hall” signage. After parking, you will walk through campus and cross Lawe Street, past the art building (it is trimmed in bright blue), then turn left to get to the Wellness Center, where the pool building is located. You may also park in the Chapel Parking lot across College Avenue. The Chapel parking lot is #25. Once you enter the building, the pool is located on the bottom floor. You can either take the elevator or the stairs to get to the pool area. You can enter the pool room via the locker rooms.

Please call us directly for current prices and class availability. 

Lawrence’s facilities allow us access to a 25-yard pool, flags to signify location in the pool for turns, starting blocks, a 16-foot diving well with high and low diving boards, and a minimum depth of 4 feet, allowing for turns at each end of the lane. These tools help us to teach backstroke counts and turns, standing and start block dives, and better simulate swim team conditions. This location allows us to push the endurance further, along with the upper-level skills we are implementing for the best performance and success.

At Wisconsin Swim Academy, our goal is to teach as many students as possible the lifesaving skills of swimming. So when students pass their skills test for Shark, that means they have completed the Learn To Swim program. They have attained all the skills we teach for that program, and it is time for them to move on, so there is space for the swimmer who is still on that journey. The Advanced Swim Program is focused on taking the foundational skills students learned and building upon them further to begin focusing on advanced safety, building endurance, technique, and ending with swim team readiness.