YMCA preschool swim class questions

TL;DR: 4 year old’s swim class is drastically different between teachers. What is appropriate for this age?

I’m so disheartened. My 4 year old started swimming lessons at the YMCA this summer. It started wonderfully- her teacher was amazing and so good with the little kids. She said how great my daughter is doing and she used her as the example kid to show the other kids how to do the moves.

She moved on to level 2 and it was more of the same. Amazing teachers, although different ones this time. Still said how great she’s doing.

Next she went to level 3. The first class was just as great as all the previous ones. I saw the continuation of what they already learned, and adding in new skills like putting their head underwater for 3 seconds and swimming by themselves 10-20 seconds with floaties on.

The second class of level 3 was a new teacher she hadn’t had before, and everything changed. They no longer had floaties. The teacher had them swim underwater, which they’ve never done before. One girl she held under for several seconds making her swim forward. She tried that with my daughter who choked since she’s never swam underwater and there was no instruction beforehand, she just put her under and forward.

She had them jump into the pool without floaties. In previous classes the teacher either had them in floaties or held their hands when they jumped. Now she backed up so they couldn’t grab her and my daughter touched the bottom of the pool for the first time (she told me later).

I was confused why the lesson changed so drastically in the same level class. The class the previous week (same level) didn’t make them swim underwater or jump in without hands or floaties. I felt like it switched from a friendly take it slow teaching class to one of those throw the kids in and they’ll figure it out class. It didn’t help that this new teacher has zero skills with small kids, she didn’t even explain things to them or motivate them.

At the end of class the teacher told me she needs to go back to level 2 after she finishes level 3 because she doesn’t know the moves. I was confused because this was the first time she was ever asked to do these things. The teacher last week said she was doing great.

After that class my daughter didn’t want to go back since she choked underwater. I encouraged her and we went back the following week, silently hoping for one of the other teachers.

It was the same teacher again. No floaties, no nice talk, no pool toys (all the previous teachers gave pool toys at the start of class, not a big deal but it was something that made them enjoy waiting while the other kids took their turns, these are 3-4 year olds after all).

My daughter was so afraid of being put back underwater and choking that she held her breath the first two laps around (even though she was on the boogie board above water). The next lap around being held up on a pool noodle she choked and started crying. The next lap the teacher held her and you could tell my daughter had no trust in her. She cried the whole time.

She wouldn’t stop crying so I took her out of class early. It breaks my heart that she LOVED swimming so much and wasn’t afraid of going underwater because all the other teachers took the time to tell them what was happening, how long they’d be under, etc. After being forced under she now is scared of swimming.

I feel like we took a major step backwards. I’m going to take her to a different pool tomorrow so she can swim with me and hopefully get some confidence back.

Anyways, my point in this post is to ask if this was normal for YMCA classes for preschoolers? I don’t understand the difference in classes in the same level. Do floaties really stop being used this young?

Thank you in advance for any info/guidance.