About Us

Southern Maine Swim Academy is located in Eliot, Maine on the Campus of Good to Grow Childcare. It is equipped with a brand new above-ground saltwater pool, that is also heated.

Classes will be offered from June through Labor Day and focus programs for children, ages 4 months and up. We’re committed to helping your child develop important life skills so he or she can stay safe in and around water.

Our Lead Instructor

Amanda Gunter

Our Lead Swim Instructor, Amanda, has been a lifeguard since 2006, teaching swim lessons since 2007, and in 2011 she was an oceanfront water rescue guard. After having children of her own she focused her attention on child development and water safety.  As the Director of Good to Grow Child Care she has continued her education through Maine Roads to Quality. When she is not at Good to Grow, she is teaching fitness classes and working on her own children’s swim progress. 

Her goal is to help raise water safety awareness to both parents and guardians, as well as children.  With swim lessons and water safety a strong passion of hers she hopes to educate, strengthen, and develop safe and strong swimmers.  Trained under the Red Cross, Amanda plans to teach her classes at the same level she was trained under.

Program Levels

The word "Infant" in bold, orange letters with a purple outline.

  • Infant 4-12 months of age with parent.

  • Baby 13-24 months of age with parent.

  • Toddler 25-36 months of age with parent.

"Preschool" text in bold orange letters with a purple outline

    • Familiarize toddlers between the ages of 3 and 5 to the aquatic environment and help them acquire rudimentary basic aquatic skills

    • Help participants begin to develop positive attitudes and safe practices in and around water

    • Build on and improve skills learned in Preschool Aquatics Level 1

    • Increase knowledge of water safety topics introduced in Preschool Aquatics Level 1

    • Increase proficiency and build on the basic aquatic skills learned in Preschool Aquatics Levels 1 and 2

    • Reinforce water safety concepts and skills introduced in earlier levels and introduce additional water safety topics

Text saying "School Aged" in yellow letters with a dark outline.

    • For the beginner who is comfortable in the water.

    • Swimmers learn basics of swimming: bobbing, going under water, supported front and back floating, supported rolling over from front to back and back to front, supported gliding , supported flutter kick, supported front crawl arms and jumping in.

    • Swimmers should already be able to float on front and back and put their head under water.

    • Swimmers will work on: independent front and back floating , independent rolling over from front to back and back to front, independent front and back glides, front crawl arms and kicks, back crawl arms and kicks, retrieving underwater objects, and jumping into water over their head.

    • Swimmers should already be comfortable swimming front stroke and swimming on their back.

    • Swimmers will work on: gliding, freestyle with side breathing, backstroke, breast stroke and dolphin kicks, retrieving objects in deeper water, treading water, jumping into deep water and compact dives.

    • Swimmers should already be able to: swim front and back crawl 25 yards.

    • Swimmers will work on: rotary breathing, freestyle, backstroke, elementary backstroke, scissors kick and sidestroke, whip kick and breaststroke, intro to turning at wall, treading water with modified scissors, and diving in kneeling position.

    • Swimmers should already be able to: swim freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke 25 yards, scissors kick, whip kick, treading water, and dive.

    • Swimmers will work on: alternate breathing, stride jump, refinement of: freestyle, backstroke, elementary backstroke, sidestroke, breaststroke, dolphin kick and butterfly, open turn on front and back, feet-first surface dive, and treading water.

    • Swimmers should already be able to: swim front and back crawl 50 yds, elementary backstroke 25 yards, breaststroke 25 yards, butterfly 25 yards, sidestroke 10 yards, tread water for 3 minutes, and dive.

    • Swimmers will work on: All six strokes, front and back crawl flip turn, breaststroke turn, breaststroke speed turn and pullout, butterfly turn, sidestroke turn, pike and tuck surface dive, pike and tuck dive from board, tread water for five minutes, and basic water rescue.Please note: Not all pools are deep enough to teach all of the diving segments of all levels – program modifications may be required to meet safety guidelines.

Group Lesson Pricing

A one-time, non-refundable registration fee of $75 is required for each family when joining Southern Maine Swim Academy for the first time. To account for increased operating costs, there will be a 10% adjustment across all lessons this season. Updated group lesson pricing is:

$400 per child/session

4 week session
3 classes a week

Register for Classes

Private Lessons

Private lessons are available at Southern Maine Swim Academy and provide focused, one-on-one instruction tailored to your swimmer’s needs. Each private lesson is approximately 30 minutes in length.

Private lesson times are offered Monday through Friday at the following times:

• 12:15 PM
• 12:45 PM
• 1:15 PM
• 1:45 PM
• 2:15 PM

Discounts are available for multiple children participating in the same private lesson.

To account for increased operating costs, there will be a 10% adjustment across all lessons this season. Updated private lesson pricing is as follows:

1:1 Private Lesson (30 minutes): $100
1:2 Private Lesson (30 minutes): $165
1:3 Private Lesson (30 minutes): $220

Please contact us for current session availability.

Contact Us
Group of children in swimsuits standing on a deck by a pool, with an instructor in the pool leading them in an exercise. The background is a wooded area.

Ready to Swim?

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