YMCA Swim Lessons in Nashua and Merrimack
At the YMCA of Greater Nashua, we believe that everyone should feel safe and confident in the water, at every age and stage. In our swim lessons, we’re not just teaching life-saving skills – we’re building confidence.
The YMCA Approach to Swim Lessons
Fun and Learning: Using both instruction and play, kids build their skills at their pace, ensuring that they succeed often, build confidence and have fun. The classes help children develop strokes, water safety skills, life skills and provide a positive learning experience.
Progressive Growth: Curriculum with natural progression promotes safe and effective swimming for all ages, from infants learning to splash in the water to advanced swimmers perfecting their strokes.
Emphasis on Safety: With the importance of always asking permission first before getting in the water, our new safety topics addresses issues that can affect the day-to-day lives of students and their families, focusing on how to safely avoid dangers in the pool.
Now Offering Rolling Registration
We’re excited to announce that starting in September, 2026, we are launching Rolling Registration for the swim lesson program at the YMCA of Greater Nashua. This means:
No More Waiting For the Next Session to Register: You will no longer need to register for classes each session – insteady you can simply sign up and stay enrolled for as long as you want!
Progress Through Levels At Your Own Pace: Rather than registering for one specific swim stage, you’ll register for the Stage Group that best matches your swimmer’s current skills. On the first day of lessons, instructors will complete a brief assessment and place each swimmer in the stage that best fits their skill level.
Convenient Monthly Payments: Similar to your Y membership, your monthly fee will be auto-deducted from your account until you decide to cancel.
Group Swim Lessons
Our group lessons use a competency based, swim stage progression, to help ensure participants of any age develop skills at their own pace from basic water skills to stroke development. Instead of registering for one specific stage, you’ll register for the Stage Group that best matches your swimmer’s current skills. On the first day of lessons, instructors will complete a brief assessment and place each swimmer in the stage that best fits their skill level.
Swim Starters
6 Months - 2 Years
Accompanied by an adult, infants and toddlers learn to be comfortable in the water and develop swim readiness skills through fun and confidence building experiences, while parents learn about water safety, drowning prevention, and the importance of supervision.
Swim Starters
6 Months - 2 Years
Swim Basics
3 Years + Up
Swim Basics develops personal water safety and basic swimming skills in students of all ages. Swimmers develop a high level of comfort in the water by practicing safe water habits, engaging in underwater exploration, and learning how to swim to safety and exit if they fall into a body of water. Students achieve basic swimming competency by learning two benchmark skills: swim, float, swim—sequencing front glide, roll, back float, roll, front glide, and exit—and jump, push, turn, grab.
Swim Basics
3 Years + Up
Swim Strokes
6 Years + Up
Swim Strokes introduces and refines stroke technique in older students (school age, teens and adults). Having mastered the fundamentals, students learn additional water safety skills and build stroke technique, developing skills that prevent chronic disease, increase social-emotional and cognitive well-being and foster a lifetime of physical activity.
Swim Strokes
6 Years + Up
1:1 and Adaptive Swim Lessons
1:1 Swim Lessons
Ages 3+
We provide personal swim lessons to family members, youth members & community members, three years of age or older, who want to improve their swimming technique, skills, and knowledge. An instructor will provide personalized instruction based on the strengths and needs. Each lesson will last 30 minutes and will focus on the areas of improvement you would like to see. Interested in Personal Lessons? Fill out this Intake Form so we can best match you with one of our swim instructors
1:1 Swim Lessons
Ages 3+
Adaptive Swim Lessons
Ages 3+
These adaptive swim lessons incorporate specialized aquatic strategies to assist swimmers with diverse physical and neurological abilities. The YMCA Adaptive Lesson instructors are trained in Swim Whisperers ® through Swim Angelfish to gain adaptive aquatic skills and knowledge and learn how to address sensory and motor challenges that swimmers face. Interested in Adaptive Swim Lessons? Fill out this Intake Form so we can best match you with one of our swim instructors
Adaptive Swim Lessons
Ages 3+
Swim Lesson Pricing FY26-27
COMING SOON....
Frequently Asked Questions
➢ Merrimack - all swim lessons are held in the pool in the set swim lesson lanes that are available.
➢ Nashua branch - Swim Starters and Swim Basics are held in the Family Pool. Lessons for Swim Strokes are held in the set lane in the Lap Pool.
Everyone should wear a bathing suit to class and bring along a towel. Swimmers with shoulder length hair or longer must tie it back. Swim caps and goggles that cover the eyes, not any that block the nose or mouth, are strongly encouraged for Swim Strokes.
We provide all flotation devices needed for the class.
Before Class:
Meet your swim instructor on the pool deck in the facility you registered. Your instructor might be in the water finishing a class when you arrive. Not to worry, they all have a class roster and they will find you at the start of class.
If you are running late, no worries it happens, check in with any of the lifeguards or aquatic staff. We'll be sure to guide you in the right direction!
*Please wait to enter the water until your swim instructor begins the class. In order to have a smooth transition from class to class, all class participants must exit the pool when their swim lesson has ended. This is so the instructor can be sure all members of their class are safely accounted for out of the water before they prepare for their next class or shift.
After Class:
If children would like to continue to swim after their class they can, provided there is rec swim space available and they have taken and passed the appropriate swim test.
Parents and guardians are welcome to observe lessons from the pool deck seating areas - it is strongly encouraged to give your swimmer space to focus on the lesson and sit a bit away from where their lesson is being run.
➢ Merrimack has additional seating in the hallway outside the pool area
➢ Nashua there is seating on deck and in the Poolside Room from which you can observe lessons from.
If you choose to leave the pool deck during lessons, please return 5 minutes prior to the end of class for pick up. Please note: you must remain in the building for the duration of class!
Camera cell phones and all other camera or video recording devices are prohibited in all locker rooms and restrooms.
The YMCA is a safe place for children, adults, and families. With today’s advanced technologies that safe environment can be easily compromised.
Please help us keep all members and participants protected. For further detail on the Y’s Mobile Device Policy please read the Member Handbook.
1. Requests for program withdrawal may be made by E-mail or in person at the Welcome Center.
2. There will be no refunds for program withdrawal unless requested one week prior to the first day of class.
3. Prorated credits will be issued for medical conditions which prohibit the participant from continuing in a class. A doctor’s note is required.
4. Programs without sufficient enrollment may be canceled; an option of a credit or refund will be given.
5. Make-ups, credits, or refunds We cannot refund or credit missed classes due to circumstances that are beyond our control. This may include, but are not limited to, closures/cancellations due to extreme weather, contamination of the pool by other swimmers, and/or other hazards that would prevent us from providing a safe and meaningful experience for all participants.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions. We are here to ensure you have a great experience in lessons with us. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you soon in the pool!
Nae Theberge - Aquatics Director Merrimack
Email: ntheberge@nmymca.org
Phone: 603-689-2419
Families register for the time and day they want to take lessons within the Stage Group and Age Group that fits their swimmer. The student is formally placed in the correct stage on the first day with a skill assessment. As long as there is room at the day and time for the age of the student, they can register. Otherwise, they are waitlisted.
If the program is full, the member can join the waitlist. Waitlisted participants will be contacted and given the opportunity to enroll as spots become available. If there is enough interest, additional classes may be added during the session, provided there is available pool space and staff. Participants may remain on the waitlist until space becomes available. When a spot opens, waitlisted participants will be contacted and given 48 hours to accept and confirm their enrollment. If you choose not to enroll within that timeframe, you will be removed from the waitlist. You are always welcome to join the waitlist when you’re ready to participate. This policy helps ensure that program spots are filled efficiently and that the waitlist remains fair and accessible for all participants.
Once the swimmers have successfully achieved the skills to move up to the next stage, aquatics staff will work with families on a transition plan into the next stage or stage group.
Members will be able to choose the sessions at registration. Registration is open from August until the end of July 2027.
When you enroll in a program, you will be billed at the time of registration. If you enroll before the program begins, your initial payment covers the upcoming program month, and you will not be billed again when the program starts. After that initial payment, you will be billed on the 1st of each month for continued enrollment until you cancel or the session ends
To cancel your program registration, email the Aquatics Director for the branch in which the lessons are taking place. Once submitted, an aquatics team member will process your request and send you a confirmation email. If you decide to cancel, you will complete the current month and will not be charged moving forward. If members cancel mid-month there is no refund for the remainder of the month.
Please note: It is the member’s responsibility to ensure that your cancellation has been processed and confirmed.
A student cannot hold a spot; they must cancel registration and then register when they are ready to return to lessons