Philosophy

Waterworks On Wheels has been serving the East Valley with water safety and swim lessons since 1985. Serving Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Ahwatukee with swim lessons has been our passion. Many swimmers travel from all areas for Phoenix because they see the benefits of our amazing instructors, our caring nature and our customer service.

In Arizona, there are so many pools and bodies of water, the importance of learning to swim at an early age is just as crucial as other states. If you’ve lived here for a few years, you know that child drownings are a news headline on a regular basis. Equally horrifying are the near-drownings which often result in brain damage.

You have many choices when you choose your child’s swim lesson program. Decide wisely. Waterworks takes great pride in spending the time to explain to parents what our program is really about and how it differs from the competition. Talk to us LIVE and let us, together, decide what class is best for your child. This is important to us, and we know it’s important to you.

It’s a tragedy that CAN be prevented!

• If you have a pool, supervise your child constantly. There is no substitute for eye-to-eye contact.
• Install a self-closing, self-latching gate and a pool fence. Keep the gate closed and locked at all times.
• Keep toys outside of the fenced pool area. Avoid the temptation!
• While no child (or adult for that matter) is “drown-proof,” a child that can swim may be able to get himself to the side of the pool if he has been taking swim lessons.
• Learn CPR. It is every parent or caregiver’s responsibility to learn CPR and renew certification every two years.

How can Waterworks On Wheels help? We’ll start with…

Parent/Tot Classes
Waterworks On Wheels believes in making this class a positive experience with games, songs and toys. We are not an aggressive “survival” program, but have a balanced mix of fun and safety. Our practiced and proven water safety techniques are the key to our success. Children (ages 10 months to 35 months) learn by repetition and consistency. The class has a specific structure for each and every lesson. We cannot guarantee your child will only need eight lessons. In fact, your tot will likely need several sessions before becoming comfortable with holding the breath, grabbing the side of the pool and exiting, floating on the back and using arms and legs simultaneously.

Our safety techniques are very progressive. There are three:

1. Jump in, turn around, grab on, climb out. We want him to get to the side of the pool should he fall in.
2. Back float. A child that can float on his back with ease can float a long time and possibly save himself.
3. Swimming. Holding the breath, arms and kicks are needed to accomplish this skill. With practice, they will become more comfortable in this position and at some point be ready for a Beginner class without a parent. The further any child/person can swim, the more water safe they are.

Our format consists of:

• Our introductory song, “Look who came to the pool today.”
• Big Arms (Row, row your boat)
• Kicks on front and back
• Spider Man (getting around the pool by holding onto the side)
• Jump in, turn around, grab on, climb out (our signature safety technique)
• Back float
• Swimming a short distance from parent to instructor
• Follow the Leader (swimming from instructor, through a hula-hoop — and underwater! — to the parent at the other side of the hoop)
• Swimming to the wall and hanging on for a number of seconds
• Wrap up song, “The kids in the pool”

Please come to Fitness Forum in Chandler, AZ and observe a parent/tot class! Janice Jaicks has been teaching this class for 20 years and it is not uncommon for her to watch her tots progress through the Waterworks Swim Program for many years and then move on to swim teams.

 

Next we have….

Beginner and Advanced Beginner Classes
After mastering Parent/Tot, your child will be ready for our Beginner class. Our experienced swim lesson instructors know when to gently nudge a timid child and when to hold back that nudge with a frightened child. We ask that our parents give us any insight into their child’s fears, anxieties, moods, learning disabilities, etc., so that his lesson can be the best possible experience. We’ll continue to work with our jump in, turn around, grab on, climb out technique, progress to the unassisted Spider Man, and learn the back float. We believe in taking each child from their current level to the next level with consistency and patience. We keep this group small, only 3 children per class, with similar abilities.

Once your child is willing to put his head underwater, he’ll be placed in our Advanced Beginner class. In this class the children are ready to learn to swim on top of the water. We work very hard in this class on using our “big arms” and controlled kicks. They’ll also put their face in the water, take a breath, then put their face back in the water – all the while swimming. This is a tough combination!

Once our Advanced Beginner class is swimming a short distance and taking breaths without stopping, we introduce the elementary backstroke and practice swimming a greater distance. We’ll just begin rhythmic breathing. Next level?

 

Intermediate/Swim Skills

We’re all about practice here. Our swim instructors will work on coordinating the arms, legs, and breathing so that the child will be able to swim on top of the water (no matter how “unattractive” it might look) the width of the pool. Building endurance is the name of the game. We’ll continue working on backstroke and freestyle until we see a nice, smooth technique. And finally…

Competitive Swimming
Our highest level – these kids have worked really hard and it’s paid off! We’re confident they are as water-safe as possible, now it’s time to perfect each and every stroke! We’ll wear them out practicing:

 

• Freestyle with rhythmic breathing (the length of the pool)
• Back stroke
• Breast stroke
• Butterfly
• Treading water
• Non-contact rescues

Many of our Competitive Swimming kids are on swim teams and need to work on developing a “perfect” stroke that utilizes energy in the most efficient manner. Building stamina and endurance are key to swim competitions.

If your child has a physical disability, please talk to us. Many of our instructors have worked with children with various forms of autism, partial paralysis of limbs, and hearing impairment. If we don’t feel we can give your child the best swim experience possible, we’ll help you find a program that can. Every child needs to learn to swim!