Swim lessons in Essex Junction, Vermont
Drift teaches children and adults in a college pool and a community pool. Every swimmer starts with a placement visit and moves up a level at a time, at their own pace.
Six levels
Each level has a cap color, a short list of skills and a way up. A placement visit tells us where to start, and the instructor decides when a swimmer moves on.
Getting in and out at the steps or the wall
Walking and moving in shallow water
Blowing bubbles with the mouth, then the nose
Putting the face in the water, if the swimmer likes
Holding the wall or the instructor's hands
When getting in is steady and the swimmer puts a face in the water by choice, the instructor suggests Floating.
Floating on the front and the back with support
Rolling from the back to the front
Kicking while holding the wall
Practicing getting to the wall
When floating with support is steady and the swimmer moves to the wall without help, the instructor suggests Kicking.
Kicking on the front and the back with a board
Gliding from the wall
Arm pulls with a noodle or a belt
Kicking with the face in the water
When kicking carries the swimmer a few body lengths with the face in the water, the instructor suggests Strokes.
Freestyle arms with breathing to the side
Back crawl
Kicking without a board
Swimming across the width of the pool
When a stroke carries the swimmer across the pool and back to a rest, the instructor suggests Stroke combinations.
Freestyle and back crawl in one swim
A first breaststroke kick
Treading water
Turning at the wall
When two strokes join in one swim and the turns at the wall are steady, the instructor suggests Endurance and technique.
Swimming several lengths with rests at the wall
Breathing to both sides
Breaststroke and a first butterfly kick
Pushing off the wall in a streamlined line
There is no level after this one; the instructor sets new goals with each swimmer every session.
Sample levels.
Every swimmer moves at their own pace.
By season
Each session runs at one of our two pools. Placement visits are open through the year, and a swimmer joins the next session with room.
Showing 6 of 6
The community pool
Classes at every level, with Saturday mornings for families and late afternoons for after school.
The college pool
Evening classes in the college's indoor lanes, when the weather keeps everyone inside and the pool is warm.
The college pool
Five morning classes in a row, one level for each swimmer, while the college is on break and the pool is quiet.
The community pool
The fall schedule again, with room for swimmers who started in the winter and for new placements.
The community pool
Morning classes by the week at the community pool, a level at a time, with the warm shallow end for the first levels.
For adults
A noon class for adults who work at the college or nearby, starting in the first level and moving up with the instructor.
Nothing matches that filter.
Sample sessions.
A class lasts forty-five minutes.
Where we swim
We rent time in a college pool and a community pool.
Use the pool door on the north side of the athletic building, not the main office. Visitor parking is in the lot beside it, a short walk from the door. Parents watch from the viewing bench above the deck, and the pool's lifeguard is on duty during our classes.
Directions to the The college pool officeEnter through the front of the recreation building and sign in at the desk. Parking is behind the building, with a few spaces by the door. A warm shallow end with wide steps is where our first levels meet, and parents watch from the deck benches or the lobby window.
Directions to the The community pool officeAn instructor is in the water or on the step beside every swimmer in the first levels.
1 adult to 3 children
Water comfort, ages 4 and up
1 adult to 4 children
Floating, ages 4 and up
1 adult to 4 children
Kicking, ages 4 and up
1 adult to 5 children
Strokes, ages 6 and up
1 adult to 6 children
Stroke combinations, ages 6 and up
1 adult to 6 children
Endurance and technique, ages 6 and up
Swimmers wait on the deck until their instructor says it is time, and they get in at the steps or the wall.
A parent or caregiver stays on site during every class and watches from the viewing bench or the deck.
The pool's own lifeguard is on duty during our classes. Each pool's rules apply on the deck, and we go over them with new families at the placement visit.
We tell families by text when a pool closes, and a missed class is made up in the same session.
Sample details.
The instructors
Every instructor holds the checks on our safety page: lifeguard, water-safety instructor, CPR and first aid, and a background check.
Owner and head instructor
Louisa has taught swimming in school and community pools for most of her working life. She started Drift so that lessons could happen in the pools a town already has. She runs the placement visits and teaches Water comfort and Floating at the community pool.
Instructor, Strokes and up
Morris coached a college swim team before he joined Drift. He teaches Strokes, Stroke combinations and Endurance and technique at the college pool, and he leads the lunch-hour lessons for adults.
Instructor, Kicking and Strokes
Yara teaches Kicking and Strokes at both pools and leads the spring-break week. She is often the instructor in the water beside a new swimmer on their first morning.
Before the first visit
Book a placement visit. An instructor gets in the water with your swimmer, looks at comfort in the water, floating and kicking, and tells you which cap color to start in. A parent or caregiver stays for all of it.
A level is a short list of skills with a cap color, so everyone can see where a swimmer is. The instructor checks the list at the end of each session and tells you what comes next. Every swimmer moves at their own pace.
A class lasts forty-five minutes. A session runs eight weeks, and the spring-break and summer weeks are shorter.
At the college pool, from the viewing bench above the deck. At the community pool, from the benches on the deck or at the lobby window.
A missed class can be made up in another class of the same level within the session, space allowing.
Yes. Adults can start with a placement visit, and the lunch-hour class at the college pool is for adults.
Choose a time on our enrollment page, at whichever pool is closer. An instructor will get in the water with your swimmer and plan the first class with you.