Adult swim lessons / 88 Fulton Street
Adult swim lessons
Floating, breathing and treading water first, then four strokes, taught by an instructor standing in the pool beside you.
Why adults sink at the hips
An adult who never learned to swim tends to do the same three things: hold the breath, fight the water and let the hips drop. None of it is a flaw in the swimmer. It is what a body does when it has no reason yet to trust the water.
A lesson called out from the deck makes it worse, because the corrections describe sensations the student cannot feel yet. At AquaSkills the instructor is in the pool, so the correction arrives as a hand, a demonstration and a few words at a time.
The room helps. The pool at 88 Fulton Street is 15 feet wide and 60 feet long, heated to about 88°F all year, which is a calm size and a warm temperature for someone who has avoided the water.
An instructor in a dark wetsuit laughing with an adult student in the pool
The beginner course, in the order taught
The beginner topics run from floating techniques and breathing techniques to treading water with sculling hands, breaststroke arms and kick, freestyle flutter kick and arms while breathing, and backstroke in two styles. The full list is set out below the lessons.
Intermediate swimmers work privately, in a semi-private pair or in a small group of up to four on freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, plus lap swimming, efficient turns and breathing. If the strokes are fine and the clock is the problem, the school also coaches swimmers on time and endurance in its stroke and triathlon coaching.
You start with the $98 intro class, a real one-hour lesson, private or semi-private. After it you are not obligated to join; if you do, lessons come in packages of 6, 10 or 20 sessions. Package prices are not published online, so text Lori Pailet at (646) 724-7024 for current rates.
Swimming a length with no float
The stated objective is plain: navigate a distance without flotation devices and coordinate your breathing with your movement. Angelica Martinez, in a testimonial published on aquaskills.com, put it in her own count: "10 lessons later, not only am I able to float and exhale underwater, I'm able to swim across their pool".
There is no membership to buy, and no card is kept on file for recurring charges. Practice after class is possible if space permits, so a student can repeat a length while the last correction is still fresh.
The school's philosophy is that swimming is a life skill: it makes an adult safe in the water and opens the door to sailing, scuba diving and the other outdoor water sports. If the water itself is what stops you, begin with the course on overcoming fear of water.
Every AquaSkills instructor is an American Red Cross certified lifeguard, trained in CPR, AED and First Aid. Text (646) 724-7024 to book the $98 intro class.
Adult beginner, six topics
The beginner topics, as the school lists them
Packages run 6, 10 or 20 sessions of one hour each. If the water itself is what stops you, start with overcoming fear of water, one breath at a time; for the other end of the age range, see children's lessons from age 4.
- 01floating techniques
- 02breathing techniques
- 03treading water - sculling hands
- 04breaststroke - propulsion arms and kick
- 05freestyle - flutter kicks - freestyle arms - while breathing
- 06backstroke - two styles
Questions about where to start? Text (646) 724-7024 with your name and cell number, and Lori replies by text.