Skip to content
214 East Main Street, Salem, VA 24153Monday to Thursday: 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.(540) 555-0102
Seahorse Swim School
Book a placement visit
Book a placement visit
CallBook a placement visit

The chart

Find your swimmer's cap color

Six levels, each with a cap color, an age range, what swimmers practice and how an instructor decides to move a swimmer up.

  1. 01

    Water comfort

    White cap, ages 4 to 6
    Skills

    • Entering and leaving by the steps

    • Blowing bubbles

    • Getting the face wet, one step at a time

    • Walking through the water holding the instructor's hands

    Moving up

    At the level check, when the steps are calm and the bubbles are steady, the instructor hands over the yellow cap.

  2. 02

    Floating

    Yellow cap, ages 5 to 7
    Skills

    • Floating on the front and back with support

    • Putting the face in and blowing bubbles

    • Kicking with a kickboard

    • Reaching for the wall

    Moving up

    At the level check, when floats with support and kicks with a board are steady, the instructor hands over the orange cap.

  3. 03

    Kicking

    Orange cap, ages 6 to 8
    Skills

    • Kicking on the front and back

    • Gliding from the wall

    • Arm pulls with a kickboard

    • Turning the head to breathe

    Moving up

    At the level check, when kicks and glides are steady on the front and back, the instructor hands over the green cap.

  4. 04

    Strokes

    Green cap, ages 7 to 9
    Skills

    • Freestyle arms with breathing to the side

    • Back crawl arms

    • Swimming across the width of the pool

    • Treading water with the instructor close

    Moving up

    At the level check, when freestyle and back crawl cross the width of the pool, the instructor hands over the blue cap.

  5. 05

    Stroke combinations

    Blue cap, ages 8 to 11
    Skills

    • Freestyle and back crawl linked together

    • Breaststroke kick

    • Swimming a length of the pool

    • Sculling on the back

    Moving up

    At the level check, when two strokes link and a length is swum, the instructor hands over the purple cap.

  6. 06

    Endurance and technique

    Purple cap, ages 9 to 12
    Skills

    • Longer swims at an even pace

    • The four strokes

    • Turns at the wall

    • Treading water for longer

    Moving up

    Purple is the last level. Swimmers stay for as many sessions as they like, working on the strokes and turns the instructor picks for them.

Where to startBook a placement visit

Sample levels.

Every swimmer moves at their own pace. The instructor decides when a swimmer moves up.

On the deck

The cap is how the group finds each other

The cap in a swimmer's level color goes on at the front desk, and it comes off at the end of class. Brothers and sisters in the same family can wear different colors, since the color follows the level and not the age.

  • Color follows level, not age

  • A swimmer can stay in a color for another session

  • The instructor hands over the next cap

A row of plain silicone swim caps in different colors laid on a wooden bench

Not sure which cap?

A placement visit tells us. An instructor gets in the water with your swimmer and suggests a level.

Book a placement visitSee the schedule