Goldfish Swim School – Ann Arbor Review

We’ve just wrapped up 2 months at Goldfish Swim School in Ann Arbor, and I couldn’t be more proud of how far my little man Maximus has come!

I’m not going to lie…our first few lessons were rough. Max would start crying about not wanting to go to swim class before we even left the house, which would continue in the car ride and into swim class. He was so afraid to go under water, I think the fear made him stress about the entire class. His coach, Blair, was so great with him though. He’d go in to the pool area crying, and come out smiling and raving about how much fun he had. I was definitely able to see the progression of Max’s comfort in the water. After a few lessons he was going underwater for rings (something he was terrified to do the first two lessons), and swimming from the ledge to the platform on his own.

I’m so impressed with the structure of Goldfish Swim School. Each class level has a list of skills the kids have to “master” before moving to the next level. It’s a set “curriculum” that all the coaches follow which I think is great for a kid like Max, who needs consistency. The last few minutes of each class the lifeguards call the parents in to watch their child demonstrate what they learned that day and at this time the coach will provide parents feedback. Last week was ‘test’ week, and Max earned his way into the next level of swim class (Junior 2!). I almost cried when the coach went over Max’s swim report card with me. I was so proud! Below is a video of him during his test.

Here are some of the other awesome things I love about Goldfish:
1 – The classes are small. At the most, there were 4 kids in each of Max’s classes.
2 – The waiting area is very comfortable. There are plenty of seats along with the window so you can watch your little fishes. Parents are not allowed in the pool area so the kids are not distracted.
3 – There is also a play area for little siblings to hang out in while lessons are going on.
4 – They have several showers inside the pool area for kids to rinse off at before getting changed.
5 – There are several private dressing rooms (along with a large one with hair dryers and swimsuit dryers) and they are really clean.
6 – The staff, from the front desk, lifeguards to coaches, is super friendly and accommodating.

Class schedules are extremely flexible. You can pay for one, two or three lessons a week, or do a drop in class just to ‘test the waters’ (pun intended). They offer classes 7 days a week, which as a working mom, is amazing within itself since we can always find a time that works for our schedule! If you have more than one child in lessons, you can usually find a time that overlaps for both or back to back times.

I can’t wait to see how much Max learns before summer. I’m so excited for him to test out his new swim skills this summer at the lake!

*I was hosted at Goldfish Swim School in Ann Arbor. All thoughts and opinions are my own.