Instructional Swim
Birch Rock's instructional swim program is based on American Red Cross standards, and the camp always has at least one Water Safety Instructor on campus to help teach and promote the appropriate swimming strokes. For some children the focus is solely about getting them comfortable in the water, for others is learning the basic skills, and still others it is more about improving strokes and working on endurance. Instructional Swim is a mandatory activity for every camper every day, except Sundays.
Instructional Swim starts with some stretches and exercises. After that usually come laps which are done in the cradles or out in the swim area. Other than laps and learning strokes, campers sometimes practice diving, surface dive for rings, or work on endurance with treading water and working on gliding.
Instructional swim is unlike other activities because it does not have badge parts. Instead, a camper may do a long distance swim if the Waterfront Director thinks that camper has sufficient swimming prowess.
