Bronze Medallion & Bronze Cross Combo Course
Dive into our comprehensive Bronze Medallion and Cross Combo Course, combining essential skills for both beginners and experienced lifesavers. Covering tows, carries, and defense methods, the program prepares participants for challenging rescues, emphasizing stroke efficiency through a 500m timed swim. Open to YMCA members and non-members, it also serves as a Bronze Cross prerequisite for advanced training, including National Lifeguard and Instructor certification, featuring a 600m timed swim for enhanced endurance and supervision skills in aquatic facilities. Join us for a streamlined path to water safety mastery.
Course Requirements
- 13 years of age by the start of the course.
YMCA Swim Instructor
The YSI course is the perfect way to make a difference in the lives of children. Sponsorship options and financial assistance are available for those in need. As a leader in the pool, you can play an essential role in helping others learn to swim and improve their health in many ways.
You will learn a variety of teaching techniques, lesson planning, progressions, and more. To put it all into practice, you’ll also work alongside a certified YMCA Swim Instructor to teach children during a swim lesson.
Preparing future YMCA swim instructors to effectively teach people how to swim and improve swimming techniques. Ensuring preparedness to create a positive member or participant experience that furthers the YMCA mission, as well as the instructors, own competencies with regards to vision and values, communication, planning and organizing, quality focus, facilitation and coaching.
Program Requirements
- You must be 16+ years of age
- Completion of Bronze Cross or NLS
- Must have current Standard First Aid with CPR-C (within 1 year)
Bronze Star
You can continue to build your aquatic safety skills in Bronze Star, an advanced lifesaving course designed to prepare candidates for the next level of certification, Bronze Medallion. In Bronze Star, we emphasize rescue drills, fitness skills, and victim recognition. You will also learn CPR during this level.
This course is ideal for those who have completed all levels of swimming lessons and who wish to continue to develop skills and prepare for lifeguarding and instruction. To take this course, we recommend you have experience in assisting with swimming lessons and with Swim Patrol.
National Lifeguard Certification
Course Requirements
- 15+ Years
- Bronze Cross Certification
- Standard First Aid (Does not need to be current)
National Lifeguard certification is Canada’s professional lifeguard standard. National Lifeguard training develops a sound understanding of lifeguarding principles, good judgment, and a mature and responsible attitude towards the lifeguard’s role. National Lifeguard training emphasizes prevention and effective rescue response in emergencies including first-aid treatment. Candidates develop teamwork, leadership and communication skills. Fitness requirements include a timed object recovery, 50-metre sprint challenge, 5-metre rescue drill and 400-metre endurance challenge.