Imagine Swimming Inc. 1561 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225

"This lovely swim school was recommended to us by several families. We enrolled our fearful-of-water child in a week-long intensive this month and the overall experience was great. Easy registration, excellent value, all around positive. A huge shout-out to the amazing swim instructor Tyler, who has been so patient with our daughter, gently pushing her beyond her comfort zone so she could get more confident and accomplish so much in a mere few days. The only thing I would change: I would have bought her a wetsuit before the intensive began--this is something mentioned on the Imagine website, but I didn't give it any thought until it was too late. The water can be chilly for some kids. :) Thank you all for a great experience!"

"Lets start with the positive: my son loves the water and swimming. We have been attending classes since October 2021, when the Armory location opened. In this lengthy time, we have gotten to know the on-site staff, front desk, lifeguards and several teachers who my kid really bonded with. Now the negative: as a parent, you can expect a lot of last-minute scheduling changes which management does not communicate to you, or even the on-site staff, in time to react. Also, if a billing issue needs rectifying, expect lots of hassle. A minor issue took me 4 emails and a phone call to fix; all with no apology. When you are paying a premium ($55 per half hour per kid), you expect easy and professional communication from the management side. Instead, it felt more than frustrating. Our final experience of this poor communication was as follows: our teacher had informed us that she would be available for our last 2 weekly sessions before the summer schedule shift. The day before our penultimate class, we were informed that there was a substitute teacher and that our normal teacher (for the past 6 months) was not continuing with the class. We were given no explanation as to why. Somewhere in the communication between staff, customer, and management, what had happened was lost. I was left angry and frustrated because we are not able to say goodbye to my kid’s amazing and beloved teacher while having no idea what is going on. This was not the first time we lost an excellent teacher with little notice. Looking at the other reviews I see I am not the only one having this experience. They do well regarding the teacher/student part, but when communication with management is needed, people seem to get frustrated and angry. I feel obligated to give a 1 star review in the hopes upper management sees this and take steps to improve. As we trust them with our children, I think we all want a good, safe, and professional experience. I feel this could be simply remedied with better communication channels within Imagine and with their customers. We need good swim classes here in the neighborhood to spread the love of swimming."

"Teachers- 5 stars Desk & front-line staff- 5 stars Cost- 2 stars (expensive) Management- 1 star Communication is bordering on incompetent. Lots of excuses and apologies after egregious actions, including dismissal of 3 of our favorite teachers with no warning. Our almost 2 year journey with Imagine at the armory was full of great lessons for my toddler, frustration with the locker room facilities, and many disappointing interactions with management. Know what you’re getting into. I wish them well on their journey to improve."

"NOT GOOD FOR ADULT LAP SWIM Crown Heights location Their membership is $124, they offer a discounted rate but you have to be well below the poverty level. I am so frustrated with Swim Imagine, their facility in CH is beautiful, and since the membership is a small fortune I asked a lot of questions up front, I wanted to know all the details. They lap swim hours are very limited, less than a couple hours each evening, and in the morning, which most working people cannot attend. They failed to mention that the children's swim team practices would coincide with adult lap swim when school started. All of a sudden, the lanes became limited and extremely crowded, 3 or more to a lane. Not only were the children having practicem but the facility fills up with their spectator parents. Whom are allowed to film movies of the pool on the their phones, which, personally made me uncomfortable. The parents are also in the locker room, spreading out towels and taking up room to accommodate their children, but at the cost of members having enough space to change clothes. I complained to the manager about all of this, and he blamed the folks that operate the building saying, "yeah they don't do a good job communicating this stuff to the public before they sign up". Which is BS because I spoke to his employees about the membership, not the building operators. I was told all sorts of inconsistent information about the membership, like the $50 fee on top of the $124/month is an annual fee, another employee told me it's a one time fee. This pool club doesn't prioritize adult lap swim members at all, it might be good for kids, but I cancelled my membership as the very limited hours were ruined by the swim team's schedule. I am disappointed, dissatisfied, and feel like I was mislead."

"I had a great experience taking beginner/beginner-intermediate lessons here. My instructors were Jack and Skylar who were both welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. In just a few lessons, which built on some prior experience, I progressed to feeling comfortable enough to swim on my own. Additionally, I enjoyed meeting friendly classmates. Would def recommend!"