Calphin Aquatic Club

The facility is new and nice. My son is enjoying and having fun. The instructor are friendly.
The one star reduction is because you can’t pick the instructor when you register early. The instructor got assigned few days before the first class start.

Nice indoor pool. It is good that they open through out the year. Kids are learning and having fun ao far. I wish they can have a competition outside calphin.

Pros: big facility and newest one around
Largest and full sized pool if that is important to u
Their tests are better than American swim academy
Full showers and changing areas better than American swim academy
Longer sessions of 45 minutes
Cons:
Classes are way too big, 6 students for kids like 5 – 7 in one session
Larger kids classes for advanced can have up to 8
How do kids learn then with so many kids?
Bathroom sink has no soap

A very close family friend referred us to Calphin because their 2 kids have swam with Calphin down in Fremont until the Dublin location opened its doors. The oldest daughter swims with the local swim team along with her younger brother who graduated from Calphin Dublin.
My child took the summer course at Crawler 1 class, which he enjoyed very much + the swim teachers actually teach his/​her students of proper swimming techniques, which was a plus. To be able to swim in the intense class, one must be able to swim several laps in freestyle + backstroke.
They got 3 lanes for children signed up in crawler 1, 2, 3 along with about 5 – 6 lap lanes for those taking intense class.
I would give this place 4 stars, but .
Parking IS a nightmare IF you don’t come early before your child’s start time. In the summer time, my son had his swimming class at 3:45 pm so plenty of parking spaces. Fall session, we originally had his swim class at 5 pm, but after NOT being able to find a single parking spot, we changed his swimming time to 4:15 pm. To find good parking spots, we had to get here before 3:20 pm otherwise all spots were filled up — quickly! About 2 weeks ago, nearby companies started towing parent’s cars of Calphin because he/​she didn’t know how to read signs. And, I’m NOT sure why Calphin is overbooking students IF there aren’t enough parking spaces for parent (s) who wait inside. Parking IS such a nightmare, someone even left a dent in my brand new car. Thankfully, the person who caused the dent left me a note otherwise I would have been floored.
I’m not sure why the owner’s of Calphin thought the lot they chose to build their swim school was a good place because it’s not. Should have built at a location where there are plenty of parking spaces for everyone.

This is a great place for improving swimming techniques. My son loved to go this school. The only reason for 1 star deduction because of limited class availability. Otherwise everything is above standard. Instructors and staff are friendly.

This is a great facility. It has superb coaches and the staff is friendly. Yes, there were issues in summer due to lot of coach changes, although it was their first summer in Dublin and they listened to the parents and made the necessary changes.
They are professionals and very friendly. The facility is aptly located in the right spot. There is a parking issue although they are working to solve it.
Coach Wong and Coach Rebecca are awesome.
Yes, the younger staff at the facility needs to add more patience and finesse to their communication.
My kid loves it and enjoys swimming. They do give proper instructions and necessary attention to details.
Thanks Calphin USA.

The only reason I take my 2 kids here is because it’s close to home, bigger and cleaner than nearby facilities. It is ridiculous between the ratio of students to teacher. How are kids supposed to learn when on average the get about 5 mins of attention between the 8 – 10 students. Feels like I’m paying a shit load of money to have some teenage teacher tell the kids to swim up and down the lanes. There is no way you can teach so many students and give them all attention and correction. They need to cut the classes into smaller groups so kids can benefit and actually learn rather than free swim.
I am not quite sure how they decide which kid belongs in what class but I know for a fact they screwed up on my child and aren’t willing to make the correct adjustments. One of my child needs to retake the class due to «still needing more work on a stroke». I asked for a test retake the first day of class to re-​evaluate because I know what my kid is capable of doing. During the whole class time, my child kept bumping into other kids because she obviously was more advanced. These other kids could barely do the basic freestyle or back stroke. It was very frustrating to see my child want to excel but being held back because her teacher felt she could improve more on the breast stroke, while none of the other kids could clearly even do a breast stroke! I would think testing a child would require all the other kids aside or after class where she had room to test. But apparently her so called testing was during class when the lane was so congested. And I don’t think it’s fair to test a child without letting the child know in advance that she is being tested. How do you expect to see full capabilities when she has no room to show?!
So her goes another semester of couple hundred dollars wasted to basically learn what she already learned.
This place is all about making money and not about kids well being! Wish there was a better place around here to take lessons at

If you are planning to put little ones for the first time, this is not the place. The lady who calls out for the kids is super rude. Kids get scared to go to swimming to this facility mainly because of her.

Please do not go here. They do not know what they are doing. We promptly signed up as per the instruction for our third session and after few classes they wanted to move her to a different class time.
Our schedules are tight and they did not have anything avaialble. My daughter is missing classes and I am waiting on refund. Told the story to 3 different people left 3 voice mails. Everyone listens and says will call back — never happens.
I am ok with coaching — front office, scheduling, the deck supervisor — horrible people. The deck supervisor made fun of me when I explained the schedules are tight for my kid. If you are going to make fun of Asians — why don’t you work in a non-​asian place Mrs-​Deck Supervisor?

Calphin doesn’t care about investing in its facilities and its students and just focuses on making money. The Fremont unit of Calphin has ONLY ONE temperature controlled shower in the boys shower area. I have been requesting them for over a year to install temperature controlled faucet since others are too hot for children. This is a request from several parents but the staff and manager just don’t care and the owner is not to be contacted in any way. I hope some day the owner reads the Unilocal reviews and realizes what’s going on in his/​her facility instead of just cashing the money. PLEASE fix this issue asap!

This place seems a bit deceptive in their advertising. Their registration process is a failure.
First, they have a coupon on their website which reads: first swim lesson free for new customers. Great, so I call them and ask about getting a free lesson for my four year old so we can try out the facility. The reply is, «Sorry, we don’t do that. You need to pay $ 300 for the entire fall season and then we will credit back one class.» My reply, the coupon on your website reads: first swim lesson free. Their reply: yes, if you pay the entire season, the first lesson is free. My opinion: that fine print is the definition of deceptive advertising!
From there I conveyed that I’m only interested in trying out their environment to ensure it is a good fit for us and that I’d be willing to pay the $ 20 for a single group lesson. Do they have availability for that? The reply: «Nope, we don’t do that. You need to pay for the entire season as we don’t offer trial or into classes.»
Right! So I’m just supposed to pay $ 300 and take your word for it that this is a great place and that my daughter will love it. No thank you!
This business is obviously not customer focussed! I don’t support businesses that are focused on what’s best for them and not what’s best for their customers. Based on our interaction during the registration process, I suspect it would be much worse once I’m a paying customer and locked in to their potentially inflexible rules. Again, no thank you!

We take our grandson to Calphin Swim in Dublin.
These people are professional and attentive to detail.
He has advanced rapidly in his swimming ability as a result of being in Calphin.

The facility was nice but the front desk and «people in charge» were not pleasant to deal with. They have very strict rules on how to sign up and you are not confirmed for your time slot until the first week. I thought we were signed up for a certain time/​date. Only to find out on the first week that we got our 2^nd choice on the schedule. I have 2 kids and activities are often planned weeks/​months in advance. As a new customer, this was quite upsetting.
I agree with the reviews that established swimmer trying to get more lap swimming done will get more out of this place then then young beginners. My 4 year old had a different teacher each week due to coaching shortage.

I have 3 kids so i did the round and tried several swim facilities over the last 10 years in the trivalley. Calphin is not the most organized on enrollment in the front, sometimes their english was difficult and their registration was complicated to understand. Perhaps it’s because they are newly opened (appx 6mo) However that’s not the obj.
I tried other swim schools nearby and you either get high school students they call in sick all the time and you get a sub your child is not used to the unfamiliar face; they teach the basics of being able to swim and not good technique that becomes important if your child continues after the basic survival swimming; or their pool gets too cold after the regular summer/​fall season you cannot continue.
Calphin has been working on technique at the beginning stage and they are strict. My daughter learned to swim under water to the half way in the young childrens pool in 3 lessons (1x per week 30 min session) and she is 4. Our next session she has been already learning arms, back floats and jumps in. A kid from a different school is in her class and came well versed in swimming halfway but had bad technique, was placed back 2 levels because he did not have the confidence nor the correct kick. I am impressed after having 2 older kids go through and take about 1 year to get to the same level. I have to say the instructors Lorman (firm) and Abby (sweet) are awesome!

This is my 2^nd session already with them with my 2 kids.
Pros: newer facility
Best coach: TIM
Cons: worst front desk EVER. — rude.
Worst coach: AMANDA
No interactions from students.

Don’t bother. They’re rules to register are so asinine that it’s not worth your trouble. I started out as a groupon customer. My son’s instructor has a permanent scowl on her face. She doesn’t look happy. She had a boy who she asked to sit out because I guess he didn’t follow her directions. He didn’t budge so she lifted him out of the water and forced him to sit on the stairs. (Isn’t it a law that adults are now allowed to touch minors?)
I decided that at the end of my groupon I was going to continue with classes but on a different day. I didn’t have my wallet with me so I was told I can renew later by phone. I called the next day. The office person said I need to come in to register. They don’t do registration over the phone. Grrrr! So I drove in and asked them to start on a certain date (a week later). They said they have to charge me for the week in missing otherwise I need to come back in the following week.
What?! That’s ridiculous. (Sorry. Those are the rules.)
Ok. Then, do you have make up sessions? (You can come in on Sundays and do free swim.)
That’s not a make up session. Is there a manager? (Yes. But he’s busy.)
You get the point. It’s not worth the swim lessons at this place. The «kids» who run the office cannot think for themselves. They didn’t give us a tour on our first day. My 5-​year old wasn’t shown the locker room and since he’s not allowed in the women’s locker room (and I am not allowed in the men’s locker room), my son had to yell so I can hear him to ask me where he can get dressed. I couldn’t help him at all! And the other moms were also helpless as we stood outside yelling at our boys through the wall wondering what our children were doing in there.
If I could give no stars, I would.

One thing that did not make sense to my six year old was: why is it that pictures are not allowed inside the pool but allowed inside the waiting room? The BS reason the staff gave me was: for other children’s privacy, no pictures allowed by the pool ??? Wtf?! Then why is it okay to inside the waiting room? Last but not least, is it not reasonable to have a picture of your child’s very First Swimming Class? Scratching my head.

After only first class I’ve decided not going back.
1. Called 3 weeks ago try to book same time for my 2 sons, they told me the only available time would be at 5 pm.
2. Parking is horrible, you have to be there at least 15 – 20 minutes early.
3. Registration is totally understaffed, long line of people waiting (I was already late because of parking)
4. After the class started the instructor is not present (found out later she went to bathroom), many confused kids just standing there including my son. There is another teacher without swimming suits just tell them «Jump in, Jump in», the kids were pushed into the pool, I really didn’t like that.
5.They moved my son to different lane with about 10 other kids sharing just 1 lane after 40 – 45 minutes. After I gave bath to my other son I noticed my older son has been swimming for 1 hour and 15 minutes, I went and talk to the staff at registration and they said” that’s OK, he supposed to come out 15 minutes ago.” They did not even aware of that. I was mad, especially after my 6 year old son told me right after he came out «mom, I was sinking, why do I have to swim that long?» My six year older son has been swimming for 75 minutes.
5. After the class they said they will call to evaluates my sons swimming level but they never did. They did call 2 weeks later but I already made my mind not going back to this swimming school.

Don’t go there!!! all schedule mess up and they will say sorry. Go to American Swim in Dublin. Not organized and less staff. You have to wait for sign in every time more than 5 min. I registered two class but only one was registered and they said they will refund. not the refund. I want class but no space, I moved class to other time and they gave me free Sunday self practice during session and I went there on Sunday at 1pm as they said self practice is from 1 to 2pm, but they said self class is from 12 to 1. and they gave another free practice. Are you kidding me ?? I’m not a fool l. please don’t waste your time. Go to other pool. I’m not the only one, I saw many parents complaining about mess up class and wrong time free practice. I want to give zero star if I can do. I never seen this kind business mind !!

Calphin Aquatic Club in Dublin is a beautiful new facility, but unfortunately, that is one of the few things that is good about their business. I purchased the 4 lesson intro pack from Groupon.
Here are the pros:
1. They were nice enough to let me reschedule once when I missed the first lesson.
2. 45 minute lesson is nice, gives the kids longer in the water.
3. Groupon rate is a great deal. After that it is comparable to American Swim Academy, slightly less actually.
4. If your child just needs to be pushed to get in water and swim laps, this might actually work for him/​her. The instructors will push them, and won’t really let up. Not for whiners!
My 4 yr old has a 30 minute beginner/​glider lesson. This is a good class, albeit a little expensive compared to American Swim and Happy Fish. There are 4 kids max in each class. The instructor, Reece/​Rhys?, is nice, but he is not a friendly, smilie guy. He is very serious, but again very nice and patient with the little ones. My daughter likes him.
My 8 year old is in the 45 minute intermediate glider class. To my surprise the first day, I learned that they allow 6 kids per instructor in that class. That is a lot of kids, especially when crammed in the half size lap pool. The instructor, Rebecca, is not friendly, and is very ESL so my son said she is hard to understand sometimes. At the second lesson, she seemed particularly rushed, so he said she actually pinched his wrist a couple times, as she was forcing his arm overhead for the backstroke. She was definitely being rough with the kids. He disliked the experience, and doesn’t even want to go back for the last two lessons!
I was also able to observe the advanced class in the full length lap pool and, seriously, there were probably close to 20, maybe more, kids in 4 lanes, all being watched by one instructor! I have no idea what they are paying, but it can’t possibly be worth having to share one teacher between 20+ kids. I believe that their MO is to just make the kids swim as much as possible during their lesson.
When my son’s instructor was finished with his class, she jumped into big pool and started a class with 7 or 8 kids! That is a lot of kids for one teacher, so you are not getting quality instruction here, and paying really just to get your kids time to swim in a heated pool (I think 88 degrees in the small pool and 82 in the big pool). The big pool is colder — Rebecca actually put on a wet suit before jumping in.
A few other notes:
The seating area is not big, so it gets very crowded and it is VERY noisy when the place is packed. Not sure why but it seems quite a few of the parents just want to talk at full volume, so you can’t go and enjoy a nice quiet hour to read or check email. If you know someone there, you can sit together and talk loudly and add to the general din. :)
I thought it was also interesting that (with a single exception) I’ve only seen Asian and Indian customers there (this was at the time I tried it, maybe it has changed since then…) They have a sign that says no photos and videos may be taken during the lessons, except on the final day of the session, and only with permission from the instructor. I have no idea why not — I wanted to send a pic of my daughter to my husband, but realized it wasn’t allowed.
For some reason the mirror in the women’s bathroom is really distorted and you can not see yourself clearly anywhere in it. But I really appreciate the warm hand/​hair dryer in the locker/​changing area.
They offer some single serve hot and cold drinks, and ice cream for high prices. Packing your own snacks is much more practical.
I am not going to continue lessons for my kids beyond the Groupon deal. Despite some negatives, Happy Swim and American Swim are still a better experience for the kids.
Summary: I did not find this place worth coming back to, however, if your child already knows how to swim, and just needs time in the water, for strengthening and confidence, this might work for them. Don’t expect any customer service or hand holding!