Recreation

Swimming and Aquatic Programs

The City of Burlington offers a variety of swimming and aquatic programs. Explore our programs, including recreational, fitness and lesson options.

Aquatic fitness

We offer several types of aquatic fitness programs to provide an exercise option that reduces impact on your joints. These programs are available to drop-ins.

Aquatic leadership

We offer many certifications and aquatic leadership courses that will help you develop your leadership skills and access employment opportunities with the City, other municipalities or a camp anywhere across Canada.

Lap swim

Lap swim programs are an excellent fitness options for swimmers of all abilities. Lap swims are available to drop-ins.

Swimming Drop-ins

We offer several swimming and aquatic fitness drop-in programs. Including Free Swim, Fun Swim, Leisure Swim, Water Running, and others.

Explore and register for Swimming Drop-In Programs

Swimming lessons

We offer swimming lessons for all swimming ability levels. Our lessons follow the Swim for Life™ learn to swim program to develop swimming skills that will last a lifetime. You are never too young to learn how to swim and never too old to start.

Online Progress Cards

The City of Burlington is moving to online progress reports for our Learn to Swim Program.

With online progress reports you receive a number of benefits:

View and print progress reports at any time and you can share with others.
Instant access to what you need to register for the next level.
A record of your child’s progress report and you can save it to your personal files.

On the last lesson, your child’s instructor will give you and your child a verbal assessment of how the session progressed and will discuss if your child was successful in completing all required swim items for their level.

You will receive an email with your Contact ID number for your Live&Play account
The following URL can be used by parents and swimmers to view progress cards:
http://swimgen.net/search/burlington
Enter the Contact ID number from your Live&Play account.
View your swimmers progress card report at your convenience

Swim levels and progressions

The Swim for Life™ program offers the following levels for different swimming abilities and ages. These can be used to determine what program will best fit your child's needs.

Parent and Tot 1 - 4 to 12 months old

This program is designed for infants 4 to 12 months old who are ready to learn to enjoy the water with a parent.

Parent and Tot 2 - 12 to 24 months old

This program is designed for infants 12 to 24 months old who are ready to learn to enjoy the water with a parent.

Parent and Tot 3 - 2 to 3 years old

This program is designed for toddlers 2 to 3 years old who are ready to learn to enjoy the water with a parent.

Timid Toddler/Little Splashers - 2.5 to 5 years old

This program is designed for toddlers 2.5 to 5 years old who are just starting out on their own.

Preschool 1 - 3 to 5 years old

This program is designed for children 3 to 5 years old who can move through shallow water with assistance and are ready to explore and learn with a swim instructor.

Preschool 2 - 3 to 5 years old

This program is designed for children 3 to 5 years old who can:

Blow bubbles and get face wet
Float and glide on their front and back with assistance
Get in and out and jump into chest-deep water assisted

Preschool 3 - 3 to 5 years old

This program is designed for children 3 to 5 years old who can:

Float on their front and back assisted for 3 seconds
Glide on their front and back assisted for 3 m
Jump into chest-deep water
Submerge and exhale under water

Preschool 4 - 3 to 5 years old

This program is designed for children 3 to 5 years old who can:

Float, glide and kick on their front and back
Hold their breath underwater
Jump into deep water wearing a lifejacket
Recover objects from the bottom

Preschool 5 - 3 to 5 years old

This program is designed for children 3 to 5 years old who can:

Do solo jumps into deep water
Flutterkick on their front, back and side
Swim front crawl for 5 m wearing a lifejacket

Swimmer 1 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for youth who are 5 to 13 years old and are just starting out.

Swimmer 2 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for youth 5 to 13 years old who can:

Float, kick and glide on their front and back
Jump into chest-deep water by themselves and into deep-water wearing a lifejacket
Open their eyes, hold their breath and exhale under water

Swimmer 3 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for youth 5 to 13 years old who can:

Do a whip kick in a vertical position
Jump in sideways into deep water and do a sideways entry wearing a lifejacket
Support themselves at the surface for 15 seconds
Swim 10 m on their front and back

Swimmer 4 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for youth 5 to 13 years old who can:

Do kneeling dives and front somersaults, 10 m whip kicks on their back and swim 15m front crawl and back crawl
Tread water for 30 seconds

Swimmer 5 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old who can:

Complete the Canadian Swim to Survive Standard
Dive
Roll – Tread (1 min) – Swim (50 m)
Swim 15m whip kick on front
Swim breast stroke arms with breathing
Swim front and back crawl 25 m
Swim underwater

Swimmer 6 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old who can:

Do shallow dives and cannonballs and egg-beater kicks
Sprint 25 m
Swim 50 m front and back crawl
Swim breast stroke for 25 m
Swim interval training 4 x 50 m

Swimmer 7 - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old who can:

Do Legs-only surface support for 45 sec
Do stride entries and compact jumps
Sprint 25 m breast stroke
Swim 100m of front crawl and back crawl and 300m workout

Swimmer 8 (Rookie Patrol) - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old and the preferred progression after completing Swimmer 7.

Swimmer 9 (Ranger Patrol) - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old and the preferred progression after completing Swimmer 8.

Swimmer 10 (Star Patrol) - 5 to 13 years old

This program is designed for This program is designed for who are 5 to 13 years old and the preferred progression after completing Swimmer 9.

Bronze Star - 10 to 15 years old

This program is designed for This program is designed for who are 10 to 15 years old and the preferred progression after completing Swimmer 10.

Healthy Swim Etiquette

To reduce the risk of spreading germs and to keep our pools clean, remember the following when participating in our swimming programs.

Shower before you swim
Please shower with soap and warm water before entering or re-entering the pool. It’s clean and it’s green and promotes water quality.
Wear appropriate footwear
Bring clean flip flops or sandals to wear on the pool deck. Street shoes are not permitted.
Not feeling well?
Swimmers should not use the pool when ill, or if they have experienced diarrhea in the past week.
Prevent pool fouling
Please refrain from feeding children or eating large meals before swimming. All swimmers are encouraged to visit the washroom before entering the pool.
What to wear?
Patrons on the pool deck must be dressed in suitable bathing attire and pay the posted admission fee. Children that are not toilet trained must wear swim diapers made for swimming pool use. These are available for purchase in the pool office.
Food-free zone
No food on the pool deck. Only water in reusable, non-glass, drinking containers is permitted on the pool deck.
Photographic devices
The use of any device capable of taking a photo is prohibited in the showers, change rooms and washrooms.

Pool closures

Check out our pool closure newsfeed for updates on pool closures.