Can we go to the pool?!

It’s a question many parents hear on repeat once their kids are introduced to and more comfortable in water — usually in the summer months. Swimming is a go-to form of recreation for families this time of year, exposing kids to the freedom and confidence that comes with gliding, splashing, and floating in the water. But there’s no reason for this activity to be limited to summer break.

Whether your child has become a little fish or is still cautiously curious, transitioning swimming into a year-round activity is a great way for them to have fun and stay active, while also learning water-safety skills.

Considering a year-round aquatics program for your swimmer? Jen Rezac, director of kids and aquatics education at Life Time, shares why this is so good for them, as well as the options that are available through Life Time’s swim programming.

5 Benefits of Year-Round Swimming

1. Consistent skill development: Having the correct swimming form and skills is critical to ensuring your child is well prepared to be in the water. “It takes time and progression through multiple levels to become a strong, confident swimmer,” Rezac says. “Year-round lessons help children continue to build and maintain their skills, so they not only progress but also don’t regress between seasons.”

2. Physical wellness: Swimming is a great way for children to engage in regular physical movement. “Swimming helps build endurance, coordination, and overall fitness,” says Rezac. “If you’re encouraging a child’s enjoyment of the water, you’re encouraging them to stay active — and that can go a long way toward building healthy habits that stick with them for life.”

Swimming is also a low-impact activity, making it a safe and effective way for many people to stay active. (Learn more: “Every Body Into the Pool: 8 Strength and Stamina Water Workouts to Try.”)

3. Safety: Ensuring your child is capable of exploring the water freely is especially important. “The ability to swim is a lifesaving skill — and ongoing practice increases safety in and around any body of water,” Rezac says. “Studies show that formal swim lessons are associated with an 88 percent reduction in risk of drowning for young children.”

4. Improved mental health: Not only does swimming offer physical benefits, but it also can have a positive effect on a child’s mental wellness. “Helping a child feel confident, safe, and joyful in the water creates a positive association that studies show can benefit their overall well-being by increasing the amount of mood-boosting hormones generated by the brain,” Rezac explains. “These hormones generated by aquatic activities can also reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.”

5. Accessibility: “Swimming is an incredibly inclusive activity, accessible for children of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds,” shares Rezac. “At Life Time, the continuous nature of our programming and the fact that our locations can be a one-stop destination for so many activities for the whole family also helps maximize convenience.”

Year-Round Swim Options at Life Time

There are a range of swim programming options for kids at Life Time depending on their prior experience and whether you’re looking for leisure, developmental, or competitive activities.

Rezac recommends scheduling a swim assessment to determine the program that’s the best fit your child and family. This can ensure that your child is placed at a level that sets them up for swimming success. You can choose to do either a virtual assessment, which is a series of questions crafted to help determine your child’s level, or register in the Life Time app for a 15-minute, in-person assessment at your local club.

Family Swim

This designated pool time is for children under the age of 12 who are accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or sponsoring member. Families can enjoy the pool together while playing games, practicing swimming skills, or using any of the amenities their Life Time pool has to offer such as splash pads and slides.

The adult must be in the same pool as the children at all times (and within 10 feet of those who cannot swim 25 meters continuously). Lifeguards are on duty in most locations, but this may vary by club. Check your club schedule for available family swim times.

Swim Lessons

Life Time’s learn-to-swim program is designed for anyone looking to build their swimming skills. Options include a range of levels, with classes available for children as young as 3 months old all the way through adulthood.

Lessons are held weekly for 30 minutes and programs are available continuously throughout the year; you can start and stop at any time with a 30-day cancellation notice. Private lessons are also offered as a one-time or continuous option for both children and adults, with availability and times varying by club. You can register for swim lesson programs in the Life Time app. (Learn more: “Everything You Need to Know About Life Time Swim Lessons.”)

Swim Clinics

These one-time, three-hour events are for children ages 5 to 12, where they can learn swim and water-safety skills as well as enjoy fun water games. The frequency of swim clinics varies by location; sign up for swim clinics in the Life Time app.

Stroke Clinics

These one-time events typically last two to three hours and are for those who have already learned how to swim (they’re designed for children ages 5 and older). Participants focus on improving specific swimming skills or strokes. Check your club schedule for exact dates and sign up in the Life Time app.

Swim Team

Life Time’s swim teams are for children ages 5 and older who are interested in swimming as a sport. This continuous program is for those who are ready to be part of a team and take their swimming skills to the next level; it includes specialized training and regular competitions.

While the exact practice frequency varies by age group, there is a minimum of two sessions per week. The program offers a tryout if you’re unsure which group is the optimal placement for your child. Sign up for a tryout or register for a specific team level in the Life Time app. (Learn more: “What You Need to Know About Life Time’s Swim Team.”)

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Vivian Levy, age 104, has been swimming since she was 6 years old. Every morning, the New York City-area resident takes a taxi to Life Time Dumbo in Brooklyn, N.Y., which opened in fall 2022, and gets in a 45-minute session in the pool.

“I get up every day and I go swimming,” says Levy in an interview for TODAY.com. “I always feel like it . . . I’ve done exercise all my life. It’s good exercise. And I just enjoy it.”

This lifelong habit has likely benefited the centenarian, as regular exercise offers a number of brain-health benefits, with swimming offering its own advantages for healthy aging and longevity.

For the TODAY show, Levy shared the simple tips she believes help support a long and healthy life:

Keep moving.

In addition to swimming all her life, Levy also loved walking, bicycling, and hiking when she was younger. She also played tennis and volleyball. 

“(Exercise) makes me happy, and it’s good for my body. You meet people through exercise, too. Where I go swimming, I’ve made friends,” she says. 

Don’t let health setbacks get you down.

Levy has a pacemaker and three stents, and she sees a heart specialist every three months. She’s also been less mobile in recent months because of leg pain.

But swimming continues to be an ideal exercise because it’s easy on the joints, gives her heart a healthy workout, and allows her to keep moving.  

Other than those health issues, she’s never had cancer or other major diseases.

Levy calls herself “a slow swimmer,” but she stays fit thanks to her time in the pool.

Stay social.

The retired teacher says she’s always been active physically, socially, and politically.

“Be interested in things and what’s going on around you and people and in the world,” she advises. “Brooklyn Heights is lovely. I walk out of my house, and I meet people. And there’s a lot going on here.” 

When Levy turned 104 in July, she attended three birthday parties: one at her gym, one at her senior center, and one with her family.

Eat well, but make room for treats.

Levy says she was brought up on healthy foods her mother cooked, including chicken soup and meat and vegetables.

“We had three good meals a day,” she recalls. “We didn’t have bacon or sausages or anything like that.”

These days, she simply enjoys “good food” and makes room for dessert. She likes blintzes, dark chocolate, and coffee-flavored ice cream. She has a small portion of ice cream every night.

The centenarian rarely drinks alcohol but does have an occasional glass of rosé. She loves to drink coffee.

Give your brain a workout.

Levy regularly did crossword puzzles, a habit she picked up during her teaching days. Now, she plays Scrabble, does Wordle, and likes the Spelling Bee word game. She reads books on Kindle.

Enjoy work and family.

The centenarian went to Brooklyn College — she particularly liked chemistry — and was a public-school teacher and guidance counselor for 26 years.

“I liked it very much. I would not have retired except that my husband retired,” she recalls. “(I retired) so that we could spend a lot of time together, and we did. We traveled and we went hiking. And that was good.”

The couple had three children and were married for 50 years before he died in 1997. Levy has also survived the death of her daughter. When asked if she’s an optimist or pessimist, she called herself “somewhere in between.”

You can read the TODAY.com story here: “Woman, 104, Who Swims Laps Every Day Shares Simple Tips for Long Life”

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Whether swimming laps is already part of your fitness regimen, or you need to start swimming more as part of a cross-training or triathlon-prep plan, you’ll get big benefits from strengthening your freestyle stroke.

This is the classic “crawl” stroke most swimmers use to churn through the water in swim-bike-run events, and while it’s one many of us learned at an early age, our technique often leaves much to be desired. “Often, swimmers maintain poor body position, elevating the head, which causes the lower body to submerge,” says Craig Strong, a Chicago-based swim and triathlon coach. “This off-balance posture creates frictional resistance, or drag, underwater. When this happens, you lose more energy fighting gravity and trying to stay afloat than moving forward.”

“In practice sessions, focus on one thing at a time.”

See more tips from Strong, below. Keep in mind that perfecting your stroke can take years, so be patient, he advises. “In practice sessions, focus on one thing at a time.”

Pull Phase

1. Picture that you’re pulling your body over your hand, not that you’re pulling your hand through the water.

2. Keep your head in a neutral position, so that your neck remains aligned with your spine when your face is immersed in the water.

3. To minimize leg drag, press your chest down and keep your hips up near the surface, as if you are swimming downhill.

4. As you move your arm through the water, try to hold on to as much water as possible. Keep your fingers slightly spread to maximize your surface area.

Recovery Phase

1. During the recovery phase, keep your elbow high. As your recovery arm becomes your lead arm, maintain a high elbow so that your forearm is vertical when it hits the water (this provides the most traction).

2. Breathe every three strokes, alternating sides. Turn your head to the side so that your mouth emerges slightly above the water line, inhaling as your mouth clears the water.

3. As you kick, point your toes and kick from your hips, letting your knees bend slightly. Kick primarily for balance, not for propulsion (your upper body will be doing most of the hard work).

4. Use your hips to generate more momentum. As your hand enters the water, rotate your same-side hip downward.

5. Before you begin pulling with your lead arm, move your recovery arm past your head. This leaves one hand in front of your head at all times.

Featured Expert:

Craig Strong has been coaching competitive swimmers — from beginners and NCAA collegians to elite seniors — for 20 years. The Chicago-based coach holds a Level II certification from USA Triathlon and a Level IV certification from the American Swim Coaches Association.

(This article has been updated. It originally appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Experience Life).

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Swimming has been a part of Emily Labuz’s life for as long as she can remember. Now the head swim coach for Life Time in Chanhassen, Minn., she first joined a swim team at age 6 — and she attributes much of her success to the many encouraging coaches she encountered over the years.

“The coaches I grew up with helped shape and influence who I am today, and I became a coach because I wanted to share my knowledge and passion to positively impact others,” says Labuz. “My coaches helped me learn to handle setbacks and disappointments, how to be a team player and a gracious leader, and the value of kindness.”

We spoke with Labuz to learn more about what makes a great coach and how positive coaching can have a lasting effect on the lives of athletes.

Life Time Editorial | What is your favorite part about coaching?

Emily Labuz | Bringing people together. I love watching kids become friends and create a bond over swimming. When you’re a part of a community, everyone steps up to become the best versions of themselves.

LTE | What is one of your proudest moments as a coach?

EL | My proudest moments are watching athletes I work with achieve their personal and team goals. The pure joy and excitement they exude is priceless.

LTE | How does your coaching style differ from others?

EL | My coaching philosophy is simple: Focus on technique, work hard, be kind, listen, and bring lots of energy. Athletes respond to their coach’s behavior and will often model it. Being energetic and ready to work hard is contagious.

LTE | What are the benefits of joining a swim team for kids?

EL | Being part of an athletic team, no matter the sport, provides far more than just athletic benefits. Swimming, in particular, delivers the following:

• Confidence and motivation: Swimming competitively provides space for setting goals and building resilience and requires you to work for both your personal and your team’s achievements.
• Brain benefits: Swimming is great for the brain. Competitive swimmers spend a lot of time during practice counting strokes, adding times, and breaking down splits. This continuous focus helps swimmers develop concentration abilities for other areas of life.
• Life-long activity: Swimming is a low-impact, healthy activity that will always be available to you. You might join a master’s team as an adult or take up open-water lake swimming. Floating and playing in the pool are also great family activities and help encourage kids to stay active throughout their lives.

LTE | How do you keep your athletes motivated?

EL | Everything we do as a team ties back to our individual and team goals — and I’m big on clear communication about that. At every practice, my team knows how the drills and sets of the day are helping them get to where they want to be as an athlete.

LTE | What advice do you have for parents of a swimmer?

EL | Swimming is a life-long endeavor. Be patient and model that for your kids. Take comfort in knowing that when you drop your kid off at practice or at a meet, they are surrounded by a community of supportive friends and mentors.

Hear it From the Team

We also talked to several of Labuz’s swim-team members at Life Time to hear about their experience with the sport and their coaches.

Our swim-team panel:

• Emmie, age 14
• Elin, age 14
• Molly, age 14
• Joel, age 12
• Sophia, age 8
• Ava, age 14

LTE | What is your favorite thing about your swim coaches?

Emmie | Their positive and supportive energy. Our coaches come to practice excited to teach and are enthusiastic about our goals. They help us to see our progress and highlight our successes.

LTE | Why did you choose to join a swim team?

Elin | After a major injury, I found myself without a sport and a team. Swimming has always been something I enjoyed, so naturally I turned to it as an alternative. I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and part of a team, so I joined the Life Time Swim Team.

LTE | What is your favorite part about being on a swim team?

Molly | My favorite part about my team is the community I feel. My teammates are positive, upbeat, and motivating. They’re my second family.

LTE | How do you feel your skills have improved since joining the team?

Joel | It is a great feeling to be working out consistently. Overall, I have improved my endurance, swim more efficiently, and am faster. It feels great to be practicing regularly.

Sophia | When I first started swim team, I struggled to keep up with the intervals. My coaches encouraged me to keep trying. I practiced a lot and now I can make hard intervals.

LTE | What would you tell someone who is thinking of joining a swim team?

Ava | I would highly recommend joining a swim team. I have built so many friendships. When I started, I didn’t really know anything about swimming, but all my coaches taught me how to swim and created my love for swimming.

LTE | What is your proudest moment as a swimmer?

Sophia | When I won the 100-meter individual medley at a swim meet!

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My grandma was the best. When I think back to my childhood, she was always there and took pride in being a present grandma. I don’t remember that she was super fit, but she was definitely active: As a kid, I never worried about whether she could keep up — it was just a given she would — and the adventures we took together created great memories. Now, I wonder what her regimen was when we weren’t around: How did she stay healthy for us?

Now, I’m a mom, and I see how much my grandma’s values are instilled in my mom. It’s so important for her to be with her grandkids, though she has to drive 1,000 miles instead of 5 miles to be with us. She spent the first six months of my return-to-work from maternity leave watching over my daughter. At 62, she was bouncing, chasing, lifting, rocking (in a car seat), swinging — essentially the everyday functional necessities of caring for a baby.

And just like when I was a kid with my grandma, when I left in the morning, I didn’t question if she’d keep up — it was a given because I was depending on her.

Through the years, I’ve seen my mom try many different workouts, which always had a social dynamic to them. When I was growing up, for instance, we attended Jazzercise (an aerobic studio dance class) together. Over time, she discovered a love of outdoor walking, which was made even better if it meant meeting up with her friends to walk and catch up.

When I began working at Life Time, she took the advice of a good friend and joined the Mason, Ohio, club. She jumped right into the Aqua classes and found a great fit with a low-impact water workout that challenged her in a fun community.

Then the pandemic hit and shook up life for my parents: They moved two hours away to be closer to family, but it took them farther from my mom’s everyday friends and her Life Time community. She put her membership on hold and, like many of us, became more sedentary.

Soon after, she sustained a knee injury, that doctors advised addressing with surgery; she opted for physical therapy instead. Despite that support, my mom was fearful of a return to an active routine and fell into a workout rut. My dad and I really wanted to see her back in action — not just for the physical benefits, but also because of the social benefits that come with the activities she enjoys.

Eventually, she talked to her doctor and with encouragement from all of us, decided to return to Life Time. She joined the Dublin club in Columbus, and though she knew nobody, she returned to her class of choice in Aqua.

Did it matter that she knew no one? Not a bit! While it was initially intimidating for my mom to attend by herself, she quickly connected with the instructors and a loyal, enthusiastic community that welcomed her.

My mom is committed to staying active through this format multiple times a week; she has also found her favorite instructors, like Peggy in our Minnesota clubs, so she can keep her routine up when she visits us. Her knee injury ultimately wasn’t a setback to building back the strength and cardio endurance she needs.

My dad is so proud of how she has reprioritized her health, and she has made new friends who she looks forward to seeing every week.

I’ll admit, I have worked at Life Time for years and I truly had no idea this fantastic Aqua community existed until recently. I’ve now attended Aqua classes with my mom and across multiple clubs — and they are amazing workouts among even greater company.

My mom has found her community, her class, her place, all of which supports not only her physical well-being, but her emotional and social health, too. I feel so grateful that she has all of this — and can only hope that others also discover how Life Time and, more recently, ARORA, can help people of all ages move, connect, and feel their best.

More importantly, like my grandma did for me, my mom is setting an amazing example of health, wellness, active living, and presence for my kids. I’m so fortunate and proud to follow in both of their footsteps.

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If you’re anything like me, you’re likely to find yourself at the pool for a cool dip and a little exercise when the summer heat is in full swing. This refreshing experience is near-perfect, except for one unfavorable factor: the negative effects chlorinated water can have on your hair post-plunge.

Chlorine is a disinfectant used to clean drinking water and swimming pools. While we love it for making swimming safe, the chemicals in it can cause hair dryness, weakening of the hair shaft, strand breakage, hair loss, and change in color to treated and non-treated hair.

“Chlorine ‘eats’ the hair,” explains David Howard LaSalle, men’s cutting specialist at the LifeSpa at Life Time River North at One Chicago in Chicago $100 loan today . “When hair is looking its most beautiful, it means it has a healthy pH balance level. Chlorine is one of the biggest culprits to a healthy pH balance, and when that’s disrupted, it causes the hair to react in ways we don’t want. Once chlorine buildup begins — which can happen with just one swim — the vibrancy and strength of the hair is immediately compromised.”

You don’t have to let this sidetrack your summer swims, though: Our LifeSpa hair-care experts offer tips for what you can do to help protect your hair from the effects of chlorine.

Prepare Your Hair for the Pool

“The first thing I tell my pool-loving clients is to be proactive and get ahead of any issues before they hop in the water,” LaSalle says. “To prevent damage, coat your hair with a thick, protein-rich conditioner — either a leave-in or rinse-out conditioner will do — and then wear a swim cap while in the pool. This offers two barriers, the conditioner and the cap, which greatly reduces the chance and amount of chemical penetrating into the hair.”

Kyra Scheeringa, a textured hair specialist who’s also based at the LifeSpa at Life Time River North at One Chicago, points out that a conditioner coating is especially important for textured hair. “Curly and wavy hair is already on the dryer side because of the ways the cuticles are bent — they are open” she says. “This openness allows for more absorption opportunities, making prepping textured hair with a conditioner a must.”

Fine and smooth hair isn’t off the hook from protection, though; it can also get damaged, just at a different pace. The damage will likely show more in fine hair because it doesn’t have the twists to hide dryness and breakage.

Cleanse When You’re Done with Your Dip

When you’re done in the pool and want to style your hair quickly and with ease, Scheeringa advises washing your hair with a clarifying shampoo right after your swim. Clarifying shampoos remove product and mineral buildup, making them ideal for also removing chlorine. The hair will then be bare and fresh to style.

Scheeringa recommends clarifying shampoos mainly for textured hair because, in her experience, she often sees people with curly and wavy hair already having buildup from using a lot of styling products. That buildup, in addition to the chlorine, will benefit from a cleanse.

Right after the shampoo, Scheeringa says to use a conditioning hair masque to restore protein and moisture balance back into the hair. Rinse out the masque before styling.

Be advised that if you have color-treated hair, you want to stick to using a color-safe shampoo since hair color is a chemical service and will be prone to removal with use of a clarifying shampoo.

For other hair types, LaSalle recommends against shampooing altogether immediately post-swim because it will further open the hair cuticle, making it even more susceptible to damage. He instead suggests a thorough rinse with cool water, followed up with a rinsible hair masque.

Consider the Timing of Your Last Service

Nikki Gnatzig, a blonding specialist at LifeSpa at Life Time in Brookfield, Wis., stresses that anyone who has just had a new color service think twice before dunking their head underwater.

“You paid a lot of money for a gorgeous new color and/or gloss, and you want to protect that investment,” Gnatzig says. “Chlorine paired with UV radiation from the sun can not only fade your color, but it also causes damage to hair proteins. It’s best to keep your hair out of chlorine after it’s been freshly colored because your hair is more porous than usual following a service and will absorb any chemicals it comes in contact with.”

Gnatzig says that while it’s never “safe” to put lightened hair directly in chlorinated water, if it’s a must, then give the hair at least a week after a color service. “With proper at-home care after a lightening or color service, the hair has time to balance out in that week, and will not be as porous as it is after a fresh chemical service,” Gnatzig says.

Have a Backup Plan

If you find yourself at a pool party without a swim cap and/or conditioner on hand, LaSalle says there are a couple quick things you can do to protect your hair.

“First, get your hair wet with regular, cool water to help seal the hair cuticles — chlorine will have less of a chance to be absorbed into the hair,” LaSalle suggests. “Then, if you have sunscreen, run some through your hair as well to help protect it.” (Learn how to pick a safe sunscreen here: “Which Sunscreen is Right for You?”)

Don’t Skip After-Care

“Once you’re back from a vacation or done with a season of increased chlorine exposure, I recommend scheduling a demineralizing treatment to remove any and all buildup,” Gnatzig says. “And if your hair is consistently in pool water throughout the year, work with your stylist to create a plan for regular treatments that will be customized to what your specific hair needs.”

Gnatzig adds: “I also highly recommend anyone who has damage come in for a K18Peptide™ salon service because this product is a game-changer. It reconnects broken polypeptide chains and can help reverse damage caused by chlorine oxidization to restore the hair’s strength and elasticity.”

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