We at Lincoln Summer Camp have an amazing pool where we offer a host of programing throughout the day.

Swim Lessons

American Red Cross Swim lessons are offered to Pioneers, Ramblers & Crusaders campers every day, with the exception of Wednesday, field trip days, and weather cancellations. Swim Lessons may be cancelled if conditions are extreme (too cold, too rainy, too foggy) and compromise the pool staff’s ability to monitor swimmers. Campers will be evaluated the first day of each session and divided into appropriate swim levels.

The swim levels are:

Level 1-Introduction to Water Skills
Objective: To help students feel comfortable in the water and to enjoy the water safely
Requirements: None
Skills Covered: Entering and exiting the water safely, learning to submerge mouth, nose and eyes and breath control, front and back float and recovering to a stand, changing direction in the water, swimming 5 feet on front and back.

Level 2-Fundamental Aquatic Skills
Objective: To give students success with fundamental skills
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 1 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 1 skills
Skills Covered: Entering water by stepping or jumping in from the side, submerging entire head, blowing bubbles, open eyes underwater, front and back glide, swim 15 feet on front and 10 feet on back, swim on side, life jacket use

Level 3-Stroke Development
Objective: To build on skills in Level 2 through additional guided practice
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 2 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 2 skills
Skills Covered: Jump into deep water, head first entry from sitting or kneeling, submerging and retrieving an object, bobbing, survival float for 30 seconds, treading water for 30 seconds, front crawl 15 yards, butterfly 15 feet, back crawl 15 yards, elementary rescues, safe diving, check-call-care

Level 4-Stroke Improvement
Objective: To develop confidence in the strokes learned thus far and to improve other aquatic skills by increasing endurance through swimming greater distances
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 3 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 3 skills
Skills Covered: diving, underwater swimming, feet-first surface dive, 1 minute of survival floating, treading and back floating, 25 yards of front crawl, breaststroke and back crawl, 15 yards of butterfly and elementary backstroke and sidestroke, compact jump from height in a lifejacket, throwing assists and caring for conscious choking victim

Level 5-Stroke Refinement
Objective: Coordination and refinement of strokes
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 4 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 4 skills
Skills Covered: Shallow dive, tuck and pike surface dives, 2 minutes of survival floating, back float and treading water, flip turns on front and back, 50 yards front and back crawl, 25 yards butterfly, breaststroke, elementary backstroke and sidestroke, 2 minutes of survival swimming, rescue breathing

Level 6-Swimming and Skill Proficiency
Objective: Refine strokes so students swim them with more ease, efficiency, power and smoothness over greater distances; includes “menu options” – Personal Water Safety, Fitness Swimmer and Fundamentals of Diving
Requirements: Students entering this level must possess a Level 5 certificate or demonstrate all the Level 5 skills
Skills Covered: 500 yards continuous swim using 100 yards each of front & back crawl, 50 yards each of breastroke, elementary backstroke, sidestroke & butterfly and 100 yards choice of any of those strokes, survival floating and back floating 5 minutes each, feet first surface dive & retrieve an object from 7 feet, Cooper 12-minute swim test

Your camper will receive a written progress report or level card at the end of each week indicating which level and skills he or she has completed or still needs to work on. Campers returning for subsequent sessions should keep their progress report or level card to ensure proper placement the following session.

All campers are expected to participate in swim lessons. Parents will be notified if their child refuses to participate or does not have proper swim apparel.

Free Swim 

Our camp day includes a lot of structured fun. Each afternoon we are on campus, campers have some time at the pool for some unstructured fun. Whether its swimming with friends in other groups, playing a game of Gaga Ball, practicing their volleyball serve or sliding down the drop water slide, there is something for every camper to enjoy. We head to the Codman Pool or Codman Campsite (behind the pool) for lunch and then campers have open access to the Codman Pool facilities. As the entire camp has free swim together, all staff are stationed around the pool deck itself, as well as all other areas open to our campers, ensuring the safety of all campers. Do note that the pool is open to the public at this time and all pool policies apply. Additionally, the concession stand is open to campers during free swim.

Swim Test

The swim test is administered at the beginning and throughout every swim season for your child’s safety. The shallow end of the pool is open to all swimmers. Campers must pass the swim test in order to use any other area of the pool,unless they are Pioneers in which case they will also have access to our Splash Pool.

The swim test must be administered by a supervisor, and consists of swimming 2 lengths of the pool on their front (any stroke as long as body position is horizontal, not vertical) in 2.5 minutes, followed by a submersion of the head without holding their nose, and treading water for 1 minute. This must all be done with no break.

While passing the swim test is a wonderful accomplishment, not passing it can cause some campers to become upset. If this happens to your camper please remind him or her they can keep trying until they pass, and there is plenty to do at the pool even without the deep end.