How to Get Certified As a Swimming Instructor

Becoming a swimming instructor can open the door to an exciting and challenging career. Swimming instructors teach people of all ages to enjoy water sports safely. Red Cross has long been recognized as the certifying organization for swimming instructors. It is wise to ensure that whatever class you take offers Red Cross certification. This will enable you to work at a wide variety of venues.

Instructions

  1. Becoming a Water Safety Instuctor

    • 1

      Becoming a certified water safety instructor enables you to teach many different types of basic swimming and water safety courses for children and adults.

    • 2

      To become an American Red Cross certified water safety instructor you must be at least 16 years old and demonstrate the ability to perform basic swimming skills.

    • 3

      You will need to be able to perform the following basic swimming strokes for 25 yards: front crawl, back crawl, breaststroke, elementary backstroke and side stroke. In addition, you must demonstrate the ability to do butterfly stroke for 15 yards, maintain position on your back for one minute in deep water (floating or sculling) and tread water for one minute.

    • 4

      To successfully complete the Water Safety Instructor Course you must attend classes, successfully perform all practice-teaching assignments and pass the final written exam with a score of 80 percent or higher.

    Life Guarding Instructor

    • 5

      Becoming a Red Cross certified lifeguarding instructor allows you to teach advanced swimming classes including lifeguarding classes.

    • 6

      You must be at least 17 years old before the last day of the class, possess a Fundamentals of Instructor Training Certificate, issued within the last year, or possess a current national Health and Safety Services Instructor Authorization Certificate and successfully complete the pre-course session. This pre-course session involves passing the pre-course written exam with a score of 80 percent or higher for each of the three sections and demonstrating competency in the pre-course skills scenarios evaluation.

    • 7

      Successfully completing the Lifeguard Instructor Course involves attending classes, successfully performing all practice-teaching assignments and completing the Bloodborne Pathogens Training.

      You must also pass a final written exam on the basic-level Lifeguarding Instructor and Administering Emergency Oxygen courses. A passing grade is a score of 80 percent or higher.