Academy Swim Programme

Our Academy Swim Programme is designed to develop swimmers who are 4 to 10 years old and give them the techniques and tools required to become competitive swimmers, all while providing a fun and friendly environment for learning. Our Swim Programme serves as the entry level for new swimmers looking to join our club, with stages based on the national Learn to Swim framework, focusing more on the skills necessary for competitive swimming.

Our sessions run on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm at The King’s School, Macclesfield, SK10 4SP.

The Academy Swim Programme is divided into 6 stages

Stage 1 Purple

Stage 2 Blue

Stage 3 Green

Stage 4 Orange

Stage 5 Red

Stage 6 Red Transition

All sessions for Purple, Blue, Green, and Orange stages (Stages 1, 2, 3 & 4) are 30 minutes long, while Red and Red Transition stages (Stages 5 & 6) are 45 minutes long. The monthly fees for the Academy Swim Programme are £34.

Please be aware that the start time of your session depends on the stage you are in and may change due to new classes being added. We provide all the necessary equipment, so the only things you need to bring are your swimmer, their swimsuit, goggles (if required), and a towel!

More about Satellites Swimming Club

Our club is divided into 3 main sections

Academy Swim Programme

Academy

Competitive Squads/Para Swimmers/Masters

Completing our Swim Programme will prepare you to move into our Academy section of the club (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), where you will further refine your technique and begin to learn new skills essential for competitive swimming.

After progressing through our academy, you will then have the opportunity to qualify for our Competitive Squads.

Entry into one of these 4 squads is based on specific qualifying times, which can be found on our website.

Our goal is to guide swimmers from our Swim Programme all the way through to our competitive squads. At every stage of their journey, swimmers will be valued and important members of our club!

Academy Swim Programme Stages

Below is the framework for each stage of our Swim Programme. As you can see, each colour represents a stage of swimming, this will give you, as parents, an idea of your child’s current swimming stage.

We encourage swimmers to continue or join other Swim programmes to enhance their amount of water time throughout the week. Please don’t worry if your child is not in the equivalent stage to where they are currently swimming if you are a new joiner. This is completely fine and will not have a negative impact on the swimmer, as our club follows a slightly different framework and may have different standards compared to other programmes.

Stage 1 / purple

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Enter the water safely.
Move forward for a distance of 5 metres, feet off the floor with a recognisable leg action.
Move backwards for a distance of 5 metres, feet off the floor with a recognisable leg action.
Scoop the water and wash the face.
Blow bubbles for 3 seconds while lips are submerged in water.
Push and glide in a flat position on the front from a wall.
Push and glide in a flat position on the back from a wall.
Jump in with no help from a poolside teacher.
Exit the water safely.

Stage 2 / blue

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Jump in from poolside safely with no equipment.
Blow bubbles a minimum of three times rhythmically, with nose and mouth submerged.
Push from a wall and glide on the back – arms in streamline.
Push from a wall and glide on the front with arms in streamline.
Travel using a correct leg action with feet off the pool floor on the back for 5 metres, without the use of floatation equipment.
Travel using a correct leg action with feet off the pool floor on the front for 5 metres, without the use of floatation equipment.
Perform a log roll from the back to the front.
Perform a log roll from the front to the back.
Exit the water without support.
Submerge entire body underwater three times without holding nose.

Stage 3 / green

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Sink, push away from wall and maintain a streamlined position.
Push and glide on the front with arms extended and log roll onto the back.
Push and glide on the back with arms extended and log roll onto the front.
Perform a sitting dive.
Fully submerge to pick up an object.
Push and glide and travel 10 metres on the back with correct kick and recognisable arm action.
Push and glide and travel 10 metres on the front with correct kick and recognisable arm action.
Perform a tuck float and hold for five seconds.
Complete a forwards summersault in the water, (assisted or unassisted).
Demonstrate an understand of the correct arm technique and breathing pattern used in front crawl (can be on poolside).
Demonstrate an understanding of the correct arm technique used in backstroke (can be on poolside).

Stage 4 / orange

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Push and glide from the wall towards the pool floor.
Kick 10 metres backstroke.
Kick 10 metres front crawl (float optional).
Kick 10 metres butterfly on the front or on the back.
Kick 10 metres breaststroke on the front (float optional).
Demonstrate the correct front crawl arm action for 10 metres.
Demonstrate the correct backstroke arm action for 10 metres.
Push and glide and kick 25 metres, stroke is optional.
Perform a forward summersault while swimming front crawl and return to the wall swimming front crawl.
Perform a forward summersault while swimming front crawl and return to the wall swimming backstroke.
Perform a kneeling dive.

Stage 5 / red

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Perform a feet first sculling action for 10 metres in a flat position on the back.
Perform a headfirst sculling action for 10 metres in a flat position on the back.
Perform a standing dive
Push and glide and swim 25 metres backstroke with correct technique.
Push and glide and swim 25 metres front crawl with correct technique.
Push and glide and swim 25 metres breaststroke with correct technique.
Push and glide and swim 15 metres butterfly with correct technique.
Perform a front crawl tumble turn.
Perform a breaststroke pullout.
Push off the wall streamlined and perform 5 metres of underwater fly kick in a streamline position (fins optional)

Stage 6 / red transition

By completing this Award, you will be able to:

Complete 4 widths of the pool front crawl using a tumble turn to transition into the next width.
Complete 4 widths continuously without stopping.
Perform a recognizable backstroke tumble turn (at wall or open water).
Demonstrate the correct technique for butterfly and breastroke turns.
Show understanding of the rules of a competitive swimming race – how many hands to finish with, how far can you travel underwater, the correct sequence of actions instructed by the starters whistle.
Perform 1 width of underwater fly kick in a streamline position.
Perform 4 widths of front crawl kick with a board.
Perform 4 widths of backstroke kick streamlined.
Perform 4 widths of breaststroke kick with a board.
Perform 4 widths of butterfly kick on your back streamlined with fins.

Progressing though each of our stages will earn you a new coloured swim hat that will represent the new group you will be entering and a certificate to show that you have completed the previous stage!

If you are interested in joining our Swim Programme please get in touch by emailing contact@swimsatellite.com from there we will organise a trial session for your swimmer free of charge.

When requesting a trial please provide us with your childs;

Full name
Age
Current swim scheme stage (if applicable)