Swim & Tennis Program, part of the

Ambleside Lifelong Health and Fitness Program

The goal of Physical Conditioning in grades 5-Upper School is to improve the physical body in general health and soundness.  Conditioning requirements aim to benefit cardiovascular fitness, strength building, flexibility and endurance.  An additional goal is to teach students lifelong skills and build enthusiasm for sports that support fitness. 

To accomplish these goals, we are excited to announce that Ambleside Fifth-Upper School students will be participating in a twice a week for six week swimming program during the fall semester, and will participate in tennis lessons once a week for ten weeks during the spring semester.  

New Tennis Program Begins
We are excited to announce that Ambleside grades 5-Upper School students will participate in tennis lessons once a week for ten weeks during the spring 2009 semester. The tennis program accomplishes Ambleside’s goals for lifelong health and fitness for our students. Students will be introduced to all aspects of the game including tennis stroke technique, scoring, etiquette, footwork and conditioning drills. The tennis instructor will be Ambleside parent, Justin Cobb (Fifth grader Elizabeth Reed’s father). He is a USPTA Tennis Professional. He teaches at Barons Creek Club and will be heading up our program. Transportation to Baron’s Creek will be provided by the Ambleside school bus.

Conditioning in preparation for tennis began last week. Grades 5-7 students will go to Baron’s Creek Club each Thursday and, for the months of January and February, they will be under the pre-tennis conditioning instruction of volunteers led by Julie Alvarez. Students are invited to bring their own tennis racket but purchase of a personal tennis racket is not required. The Upper School will continue tennis pre-conditioning on campus until March.

Swim America Comes to Town
In 1987, a small group of experts in each area of ‘learn-to-swim’ programming developed a careful and systematic method to teach swimming in a new “goal-driven” and “technique-oriented” manner. They were coaches with demonstrated records of success. Since 1988, SwimAmerica has grown to over 600 programs in all 50 states with over three million people having taken SwimAmerica lessons each year. The program has spread to 13 countries around the world including Australia, Great Britain, France, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
Coach Al Carr (a Level 3 American Swim Coaches Association certified coach) has affiliated with SwimAmerica for the first time. “We are especially proud to be able to offer this highly successful learn-to-swim program locally. My choice was simple: maintain the ‘status quo’ or do something more constructive as well as productive,” Carr stated.
Statistics indicate year after year that swimming ranks number one among all participant recreational activities. Swimming has long been recognized as the most complete form of exercise, developing cardio vascular, skeletal and neuro-muscular fitness. Learning to swim means acquiring a skill level which permits participation in a wide variety of year-round activities such as boating, water skiing, sailing, kayaking and fishing. Opportunities also include competitive swimming triathlons, SCUBA diving and surfing.  All water sports are less hazardous when participants are strong swimmers and can remove themselves from danger if the unexpected should occur.
SwimAmerica works on the development of small progressions. Fundamental elements of swimming are organized into ten “stations”. Each station builds upon skills learn at previous stations. The end result is a student who can perform four unique styles of competitive swimming a distance of at least 300 yards without stopping. SwimAmerica is “goal-driven”: advancement criteria have been established which provides the student clear tests of his own abilities. Each station serves to motivate students to achieve beyond their own immediate expectations.
SwimAmerica is technique-oriented. “Good swimming is good swimming”. There is a distinction between “competitive” and “recreational” techniques. Proper competitive techniques have been established and taught by professional swim coaches for decades as the result of experience and observation. What works best and what is enjoyable has been incorporated into SwimAmerica progressions.