Swim4Life

"I put Lil Bear through this program, with Coach Courtney, when she was about 8 years old (see the picture). She was still a little uncomfortable treading on and swimming in water. We spend lots of time at big lakes and the Pacific shores, and I wanted her to be more comfortable around moving currents and waves. These lessons focus on that: Rivers, lakes, oceans, currents and under currents. She learned how to navigate stressful situations with confidence and it was pivital in her healthy relationship with water. She's a fish at the lake now, and we all feel safer knowing she's got foundational skills that can help save her life when the water gets rough. (Psssstt! It's not just for kids. They have adult lessons and aquatic therapies, semi-private and private lessons too!)"

"We are finishing up the lessons here that we are being forced to pay for and then we will be going elsewhere to finish my kids water safety instruction for two reasons: 1)They inists you give them 30 days notice to cancel your subsription with them when you want to stop lessons. We take private lessons for two kids(over $500 a month) because we have a disabled child with a life threatening disease that is immune compromised. He has become sick and we have 4 or 5 banked lessons and they won't pause our subscription while we use the lessons we have banked(read the fine print). I feel really taken advantage of which is a horrible feeling given we went out of our way to support a new local small business and I was very detailed about my son's condition. I frankly do not want to do business with a company that would treat a family the way we have been treated, particularly given our circumstance. 2) I am radically uncomfortable with their policies and teaching style. I was already debating leaving before the billing issues. I am a former swim instructor, I taught swim lessons at a leading swim school in California for years. Swim4Life allows your child to "self explore" and essentially learm by choking and making unsafe choices to teach them(the hard way) "what not to do". With my youngest son this involved telling him it was okay to jump in the pool(he thought the instructor was going to catch him because that is what had happened at all 4 of his prior lessons) and then she turned her back on him and chatted with an employee while he jumped in in total terror began to choke and flail struggling to breathe and try and get help. She waited until I insisted she pull him up from under the water to help him. When I voiced my concern, she told me it was his fault he didn't have a good plan. Well, he is 6! Teaching him to enjoy the water and not be terrified of it is one of our goals she certainly did not help with. She also totally eroded any trust he had made with his prior instructor. So. Be aware of the trauma that can take place with this teaching style. For my son it undid weeks of progress. Something they were okay with, I guess because it meant more lessons. Also, they seem to have a lot of turn over and staffing issues, my youngest had 4 different instructors in 5 weeks. Each one followed a different style and different lessons so consistency and trust was challenging."

"I have been so impressed with Swim3Life! My 6 yo and 4yo have been working with Abby for only a few lessons so far and they have made amazing progress. My oldest started out afraid to go under water and now diving for her dive toys is her favorite thing to do in the pool! I also love the practical safety they teach me and the kids, and they've even given me lots of great advice to start working with my 18 month old in the water. I recommend Swim4Life to anyone who is looking for swim lessons for their kiddos!"

"Swim 4 Life has been amazing for my two boys and I strongly recommend them to anyone who has hesitant swimmers. One of our children had a lot of anxiety around water and never did well in the larger swim classes at rec-centers. After a series of private lessons he was able to switch to the group lessons and move up to the advanced open water skills class in a matter of 3 months. He is now able to relax around water and knows the skills that he needs to keep himself safe which lets the entire family enjoy being around water again. Both Courtney and Corynn are very skilled teachers who know how to encourage kids to overcome fears and gain confidence in water."

"Sometimes you just can't say enough good things in a review. We tried other classes with our kids and just didn't make a lot of progress. Courtney greeted us so warmly from the beginning and has taken our kids progressively through a planned and individual path by getting to know them and building trust. Our kids were tentative to be under water when they walked in, and were both fully under water in the first 30 minute lesson. It's so obvious that Courtney's training is a cut above. If you're anxious about the money, don't be. You're kids will progress quickly. This is really really the best swim lesson money can buy."