Dive into fitness
Swim lessons, competitive swimming offered at Clinton Community Center
The indoor pool at the Clinton Community Center is home to the Clinton High School and Middle School swim teams as well as the Clinton Sharks. (photo:Tony Cox )
And he can explain all about their advantages.
“It’s an incredible life skill to have,” Leninsky said of swimming. “You have your basic survival swim skills. You get pushed into the water, you are able to swim to the side.”
But beyond that it has fitness benefits.
“Being able to swim a competitive event, swim 50 yards, 100 yards consistently moves that from just survival skills to being able to have a more well-rounded physique, more well-rounded body as far as overall health,” he said. “Swimming is a sport that activates every single part of your body at once. Muscles that you thought you never knew you had when you first start swimming are going to be activated.
“It’s a skill that you can continue to carry with you throughout your adult life. There’s almost always a pool going to be somewhere nearby that you can go to work out, exercise. As you age, get older, running really doesn’t become an option anymore where swimming does because it’s zero impact or extremely low impact on your joints,” he said.
Leninsky was on a swim team in high school and said he “just fell in love with it, honestly.” He’s worked as a life guard and swim teacher as well.
“Any age that anyone who wants to swim is never too late for anyone who wants to learn. Even just being in the water, in shallow water and doing exercises like that is beneficial. You don’t necessarily have to know how to swim in order to enjoy the water,” he said.
Swim lessons
The city of Clinton offers five different swim lesson types. The first and most basic one is the parent-child classes for ages six months to three to four years old.
“As long as the child is able to sit upright by themselves for 30 seconds to a minute, then they can start experiencing the water,” Leninsky said. “The parent-child class is designed as a water experience, getting them used to the water, getting them used to having water splashed in their face and socialization.”
The class does not teach how to swim and survive in water, but it gets children ready for other types of swim lessons so that “they’re not as panicked,” he said. “Often times you’ll get a four-year-old that’s never touched the water. In a place where they cannot touch, it’s scary, and having the previous exposure can help reduce that.”
Second, beginner lessons begin at age four but aren’t focused on a specific age group.
“That one we’re focused on basic survival. Learning how to kick, move your arms and be able to swim anywhere from five to ten yards independently, so that way in the event where they’re at a neighbor’s pool, the river, at the lake, they can try to make it to safety.”
Third level is advanced beginners, in which swimmers can swim about ten to 15 yards independently. The class teaches front crawl and elementary back stroke, enhancing the survival skills and building endurance.
Fourth is the intermediate level, at which swimmers learn to consistently swim 25 yards independently and focus on life fitness swimming skills.
Fifth are advanced lessons. Leninsky said this level isn’t as popular because by that level swimmers usually come in for lap swims on their own or with parents or had joined competitive swim teams. He said, however, he would find the time to help advanced swimmers with technique whenever they need help.
Certified lifeguards trained by Leninsky join him in teaching these lessons.
“As long as I’m able to fill the classes and teach the students I’ll teach them at any level,” he said. The lessons are available all year. If you are interested, email jleninsky@clintontn.net or call 865-259-1164.
Clinton Sharks
Clinton also hosts the Clinton Sharks out of the Clinton Community Center’s indoor pool, which you can learn more about through the same contacts above. The group, ages five to 18 learns strokes and skills as well as competing in some events.
“If there’s any interest in learning the sport of competitive swimming, the Sharks is a year round program that allows students of those ages to just give it a try and see if they want to continue learning the sport,” he said.
Leninsky said the Sharks learn freestyle also known as front crawl, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly.
The Sharks compete in the summer, usually with one competition per week in June and July. The two major competitions are the Smoky Mountain Invitational and the City Championships which both include club teams within the greater Knoxville area. Fall and spring, however, have fewer competitions.
“A lot of its just about learning the sport and having the opportunity to compete when we can,” he said. He said many elementary schools in the region around Clinton lack competitive swim teams or swimming opportunities making the Sharks an important program.
The Clinton Sharks meets in three sessions. A fall session ran from August through January. The spring session is January through April or May, and then the summer session will be late April through August. Each session costs $60 while a year round membership costs $150. People can attend one or two practices for free without paying for a session.
“I encourage anyone who’s interested to come in, try out a practice or two and then see if they really want to do it,” he said.
