Knowing how to swim makes you healthy and keeps you safe. To help teach New Yorkers to swim, Parks is offering free swimming lessons for people of all ages.

How to register

In order to guarantee everyone an equal chance of attending our programs, we’ve developed a lottery for program registration.

1. Registration for this program will only be conducted online. If you want to register for the lottery, please visit this page on Saturday, January 29. Registration will be open for 24 hours, beginning at midnight on January 29.
2. If you are unable to register online, you can go to a participating recreation center on Saturday, January, 29 between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Aquatic Specialist staff members will be happy to help you enter the lottery.
3. Each person who registers may only enter the lottery once. Anyone applying multiple times will be disqualified from the lottery.

Participating Recreation Centers

Bronx

St. Mary’s Recreation Center

Brooklyn

Brownsville, Metropolitan, and St. John’s Recreation Centers

Manhattan

Recreation Center 54, Asser Levy, Chelsea, Hansborough, and Hansborough Recreation Centers

Queens

Roy Wilkins Recreation Center

Staten Island

The JCC, which is a non-parks facility located at 1466 Manor Road. Please note: assistance for online registration for the JCC program will be at Lyons Pool and Faber Pool from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. on January 29)

After the Lottery

We will email the results of the lottery to you on Monday, January 31, so make sure to check your email that day. We will also post a printout of the lottery results at each recreation center by Wednesday, February 2, so please look there if you do not have access to email.

1. If you are selected in the lottery, please be prepared to attend the class. Tots and children must bring copies of their birth certificates, and children must first pass a water test to determine their placement. Swim caps are recommended for all ages.
2. There is no preferential treatment for the lottery. If a friend or relative is selected, or if you were selected for a previous lottery but were unable to attend due to injury, your chances will be the same as any other entrant. This is to make sure that the lottery process is fair for everyone. If you drop the class, we will select someone from the lottery waitlist to take your place.
3. If you are on the waitlist, you will receive a call from a member of the Citywide Aquatics Office if a spot opens up. We will not be able to tell you your place on the waitlist before you are selected.

For further information call Citywide Aquatics at (718) 760-6969, EXT 0 or click on the below!