The City of Fontana is proud to offer one of the best Learn-to-Swim programs in Southern California. We offer 6 different levels at 4 different pools throughout the city. There are morning and evening lessons to fit almost anyone’s schedule. There is a class for anyone from 6 months old to seniors. There is also an opportunity to receive free swim lessons through our Kaiser Permanente funded program Operation Splash. See the bottom of this page for details.

Notice: No refunds, credit or transfer policy on swim lessons. Transfers only approved if child is moving up from a lower level to a higher level. Please plan swim lessons carefully around school and vacations for there will be no refunds or credits for any reason. All participants must wear proper swim attire at all times.

Swim Lesson Levels

If you are having a difficult time deciding which level to register your child for, here’s a quick preview of each Level:
*On the first day of the session your child will be assessed by a trained instructor who will place your child in a level based on their abilities at that time.

Parent & Me: Big fish, Little fish (6 mo. To 4 years). Parent and child will be required to participate in the water together. Emphasis on fun in the water through several guided practice sessions that help children learn elementary skills including water entry, bubble blowing, front kicking, back floating, underwater exploration and more.

Level 1 — Tadpoles (at least 4 yrs. Old). Introduction to water skills, water entry and exit, fully submerging face, jump entry, kicking and arm movements, breathe control, support floating, rolling over, and personal water safety.

Level 2 — Guppies: Students learn to float without support and recover to a vertical position, all glides, front arm motions, back arm motions, flutter kicks and rhythmic breathing.

Level 3 — Otters: Students learn to combine and coordinate arm and leg motions with rhythmic breathing, diving from the sides of the pool, back crawl, elements of butterfly stroke, and fundamentals of treading water.

Level 4 — Dolphins/Stroke Improvement: Students develop confidence in strokes, increase swimming endurance build on butterfly stroke, learn elementary backstroke, and elements of sidestroke.

Level 5 — Sharks/Stroke Refinement: Objective is coordination and refinement of strokes. Participants refine performance of all the strokes and increase their distance. Flip turns on front and back crawl are introduced.

Level 6 — Personal Water Safety, Fundamentals of Diving and Fitness Swimmer: Students will refine strokes to swim with more ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances. Fundamentals of diving are taught as well.

Regular Swim Lessons vs. Semi-Private Swim Lessons

Regular swim lessons have anywhere between 4 and 8 participants in a class. Semi-Private swim lessons have no more than 3 participants in a class. Therefore, the swim instructor has more time with each participant. However, both types of swim lessons are a great way for our participants to learn to swim.

Operation Splash is a partnership between Kaiser Permanente and the City of Fontana Community Services Department Aquatics Division to educate participants of all ages in water safety and teach them how to swim at no cost. For more information, click here.