Calphin Aquatic Club

Disclaimer: based on my personal experiences and reflect my personal opinions only. Love Coaches Charlie and Brock. They are hardworking and are in the pool to teach, and are very considerate toward the kids — I watch every week — we have Coach Brock this session, and not just toward my son, but every kid — he is patient, and kind, all the while making sure they get their work done!
We’ve been going here close to 3 years — our son tried some other popular swim schools, but the structure provided by Calphin helped him tremendously– they coach here, not just teach. His swimming techniques, fearlessness in the water and confidence levels, all skyrocketed. He swims in the ocean effortlessly (For an 8yo) now, thanks to his experiences at Calphin.
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Their facilities leave much to be desired — although they have some renovations in progress. But, to save time (and we live relatively nearby), my son showers and changes at home.
Parents here don’t always follow the rules clearly posted — e.g. going on deck, or blocking the view and not even bothering to apologize. Plus many (if not most) lack basic courtesy and talk loudly, continuously (no amount of earphones piping in Coldplay can drown out 2 parents mundanely comparing their children) shove, push past, and are in general, well, not the most reflective of what I would consider highly educated people.
Some female youth swimmers don’t wear caps (yucks — all that hair floating around!) or even proper swimwear (people, wearing clothing beneath swimwear is not recommended or the proper way to do so — for a variety of scientific reasons. I’m sorry– but this is where cultural norms should not dictate proper sporting attire. One can’t have it both ways)
The crowd is definitely not diverse — almost all belong to one of two races here. We are a multicultural family, and we’d have preferred a more diverse facility (yeah, good luck in the Bay Area –where most communities huddle in their respective ethnic groups), but Calphin is close by, and we have been very pleased with the coaching quality.

I gave them two stars because they requires your toddler to be potty trained and at least 2.5 years of age to use the facility as a member or for classes. Even if they have a swimming diaper. We were with American Acedemy for a year when my daughter was 12 months old and there were no such hard requirements. It’s bad enough they have rediculous high sign up fees and monthly fees and with these hard requirements for kids.

The place is managed worse and worse, now all showers are out, and it will take more than two months to fix it. I have been a member for over five years, the owners should pay more attention for their service. Otherwise, people might leave in drove.

Went back here because my daughter’s classmates were all going to be there and they got into class at the same time — 8pm on Tuesday eves. Since it was a Crawler class they were in the small heated pool. And yes, it’s still as crowded as it was before, but the strides my daughter made in this one session — wow. She jumped up a couple of levels and caught up to her friend for the next session and the big pool which is awesome and a testament to her teacher.
So the negatives primarily are logistical things — parking sucks and people are lethal trying to vie for a spot. I’ve usually had to park closer to Lucky, walk my daughter in, and then re-​park the car once the prior class has cleaned out. It definitely gets crowded in there too. Now, the big perk of having a late class it seems is that everyone rushes home and it leaves the showers open, so my daughter and her classmates almost always got the showers to themselves, and it was only 15 minutes for us to shower and change them into pajamas — and voila! Done for the evening. Since it’s winter, we’ve opted for an afternoon class starting January so we’ll see how that goes, but I’m very pleased with how well my daughter has taken to the water and blossomed in there. It’s been worth it thus far.

Dated: End Aug 2015 So this story goes from bad to worse. I made a request to see the manager of the facility yesterday so I could personally make this request to him. The manager refuses to meet at first sending a message that they are busy with lots of updates and they will make the updates in December end break. Since my first request was before last December — almost 9 months ago — this doesn’t satisfy me. So I request to meet him. The manager comes and firstly tries to address me by signaling to me to walk towards him like he might be signaling to a dog. Then he tells me that they hired one Contractor to test but that contractor went back to Pakistan. At this moment this is all excuses … Hard to believe Calphin can’t find one contractor. On top of this the manager asks me are you in bathroom construction… Not sure what he’s trying to signal or just being rude. Anyways then he says if it bothers me then we can go to another location. At this point I explain to him that the goal is to fix the issue and to not flee. Anyways gave him my info and waiting for owner to call me. Which may happen never. Will post again if I hear back from owner. What a shame that Calphin can’t fix a simple issue like this and cares so little about its students and its customers.

We have been going to this swim school for about 4.5 years. Convenient location is the only plus point. The owner is sincere and probably the best teacher there. Most of the rest teachers suck. Most of them are high school/​college kids. They normally have there own stuff going on the side. My advice would be not to waste money here.
I also took adult swim lessons. Our teachers kept changing almost every week.
My child had a break of 1 session due to family emergency (in altogether 4 years) and they moved her 2 levels back. Not worth spending so much money.

Firstly, I have to say there is not many swim classes in the area that stands out on top! So Calphin does well at 3 stars for me in that aspect! I do not wish to try their bubbler (or any other classes) in their small pool — I think it is way too crowded for little kids. So here goes…
Pool — The bigger pool for kids who can actually swim is good! And they have the kids swim from one of the pool to the other at an early stage which I greatly appreciate. I like their system of measuring the time for all the strokes. I have not had an instance so far where the pool has been dirty or stinking of chlorine, so 5 stars there.
Coach — We have interacted with 2 coaches so far and they are both good. They know the child and they are on top of the child’s skill set. They communicate clearly what the child needs to work on! (I would not talk to the deck manager about any of this :/​)
Front desk staff — I think they are swamped! They have messed up our registration/​schedule more than 1 time. And that said, I think their system of pre-​register and then not know what is for sure until you receive an email is not the best way. It would be great to let kids continue their current date and time — open this registration first and give them a guarantee. Then open registration for those wanting alternate times and then open to public! Why pre-​register if all I want to do is keep the schedule?
Make up/​Self practice — We have not had a chance to use these but I hear from other parents that these are working well.
Seating/​Shower facilities — I agree with one other reviewer below that this is a sore point! It is claustrophobic and given their 30−45−60 minute schedules, very messy! No shampoos in the showers and most times the bathroom are dirty even to change. So we just robe up and come home to shower. Improvement in this area will go a long way for this club!
Overall, we are going to continue here :)

1. Without informing me (they claimed they sent me an email, but I didn’t receive it), they changed my child’s class time from 3:45 to 3:30pm. There was no way I could get my child there at 3:30! So after going at 3:45 for two consecutive classes, thinking we were on time, and wondering why the class ended at 4pm instead of 4:15, I was told by the instructor to go talk to the manager. Manager couldn’t care less, gave me major attitude and sent me to front desk because apparently, it was their problem. I talked with the front desk, who agreed to move the class to a different day and time that worked for us. That said, when they informed us who the instructor was going to be, the other lady at the front desk made a face and said «Oh, not him!». Of course, that caught my attention and when I asked her about it, she said, «He’s cool and all, I just don’t talk to him». Thanks for the consolation!!! We had to stick with this particular instructor because that was the only time and session that worked for us.
2. Now my child is with Nick who teaches Bubbler 1. Since she wasn’t making a whole lot of progress, I asked Nick about it and he said her problem was low confidence and that she was still afraid to let go. I appreciated that, knowing what was holding her back. This was last week. BUT today, he didn’t even approach my child! She just sat there by the poolside for the last 11 minutes of a 30 minute class, with no communication/​instruction from the instructor, while the other three kids got their turns diving, kicking, and doing things a child in Bubbler 1 is supposed to do. SHE JUST SAT THERE SHIVERING. At the end of the class, I asked Nick what was going on and why she didn’t get her turn and he said it was because she is not making progress like the other kids due to her low confidence. OK!!! Now, if you are the instructor, aren’t you supposed to practice harder with a child who is having trouble in the pool and not just give up on them or make them feel like an outcast and ignore them??? I think this is unacceptable, especially because Calphin is not exactly cheap. I’m paying a lot of money per class and if my child is just asked to sit around for ¹⁄₃^rd of the time because she’s not making progress, I think we have a problem here. Change your strategy or something if you call yourself the instructor!
I have addressed my concerns with their front desk and am hoping someone there is reading this review and will get back to me about this negative attitude from an instructor.
On a more cheerful note, instructor Devin is awesome. Sadly for us, she got moved to the Dublin location.

If you are planning to get your young one for the first lessons, then avoid this center. We got our daughter for the classes and apparently she hated going to the class after a few classes. The training is mechanical. 4 per teacher. They do the same boilerplate stuff. There seems to be no connection between the teacher and kids. Not to mention the water temperature which is at 71 degrees made her shiver. When I mentioned the front desk about this, they mentioned that the temperature is maintained at 71 and is fine. This is not enough for such small kids.
Update: We put our daughter in American Swim Academy and she really enjoys it. They have made the pool very kid friendly. The water temperature is at 91 degrees F. She loves it!

I am very disappointed with how they run the admin side. Front desk staff — needs huge improvement. I called the night before to sign up my daughter for the next day. They said they were going to see what level is she.
I took my kid for first time. Informed the front desk it was my daughter’s first class. They just told me to bring her to the pool. After her class, no one even bothered to talk to me, they were supposed to evaluate her to tell me what level they’re going to put her.
But anyways, Fremont location — is just mad house.

I have struggled with writing this as I really wanted it to workout. I have been swimming all of my life and have done so competitively. I was looking for a place to workout close to home. This place fit the bill as far as facilities. The pool was of adequate length and had a good number of lanes. The front desk staff was friendly as were the lifeguards. Since I usually go during the day the parking issue others have referenced was not an issue for me. After an initial walk through I decided to sign up as a member.
Here is the short version. Management/​Ownership only cares about the kids getting lessons. They don’t care about facility cleanliness and safety nor the members whom they charge exorbitant fees. They don’t care about their employees as I soon found out. I had several employees tell me they are leaving because of management and lack in pay. This attitude is pervasive and is visible throughout the facility. They simply don’t care and it has caused me to cancel my membership and to find another facility for far less money (60% less actually) which is still close to my house. If you’re an avid simmer, not needing lessons, go somewhere else. For more detail on my experience across 6 months of membership read further.
At first I was shocked by the annual and monthly fees. For what you get they are excessive in my opinion. Especially when you read the rest of this. For me it was $ 55/​mo.
Now when I signed up they advertised having a master’s program. I asked when it was conducted and where I could sign up. They said they would take my name down and management would call. No one ever did. I followed up and then found out that they are not currently having a master’s program due to lack in interest by members. So, misleading advertisement, false set of statements #1. Keep track they add up. They then said they would do another poll of the members to see if there was interest. This never happened either. False statement #2.
After swimming for a few days I started to notice a few things. The bathroom frequently smelled of mold an urine. When you’ve been to as many pools as I have you can tell right away. Next, I noticed that the rules for pool use are almost never enforced. These are basic rules like swim caps for people with long hair, swimmers in the appropriate lanes for their level, etc. What is the result? People not swimming in the lanes best suited for their swim level. Why is this important? It helps avoid injury and irritation of swimmers during workouts. Why are swim caps important? It helps to keep the filtration system clean and swimmers from swimming through giant hairballs. Yea it has happened here and sadly not the worse thing I saw. When I asked several of the life guards why they don’t enforce the rules, the response was management doesn’t like us bothering the members. I asked to speak to management about it, but no one was in the facility, apparently. A few minutes later the GM walked out of his office. False statement #3.
I got tired of waiting on the masters program so I actually asked the acting manager if I could coach it once a week in exchange for my membership fees. I have been swimming for a long time and was actually asked by several other members if I would coach. Initially there was interest by the GM but he had to speak to the owners and the head coach. I never heard back from them despite assurance to the contrary. False statement #4.
The attitude here is one of arrogance. They prey on the people who don’t really know any better and simply want their kids to learn how to swim. Also, they behave as though we should all feel honored to pay them to use their facility. Customer service is not even a passing thought. Cleanliness and safety are only enforced at a bare minimum and only when they are called out on it. A friend of mine is an inspector with the city and county. He told me about paying them a visit and his findings. Apparently the neglect was severe enough to cause a ½ day shutdown while they cleaned up.
Again, its unfortunate because I think this place could be much better than it is for everybody. Also, if it were the revenue would be much better and everybody would win. Sadly, management/​leadership don’t get it or can’t/won’t see it.

If I could give no stars, I would.
This place is not interested in teaching. It has to do with making money.
The classes are over crowded, the instructors are bored, and the children are uninspired.
I found a better place, asked them to refund the credit I am owed. They refused. Why, because it is all about taking money, and not ethical business practices.
I asked for a refund on credit that is on my books that I will never use. Their response? Ask another parent or friend to use it, because we don’t want to give you the money back.
Well, don’t make the mistake of sending your kids to learn in a meat packing industry. Your kids deserve better, and your money should be worth more!

Do you ultimately want your kids to learn how to swim? If yes, this is the place. I pretty much agree with other Unilocalers’ comments regarding facilities and parking. But the end result is that we have found a swim school that will teach my kids, 5 and 7, strong, technical, swimming skills. My kids don’t mind the other stuff of course.
Both my kids spent one solid full year last year, taking weekly lessons at the ASA and though my 2 year-​old still attends the Aqua Babies program there, I will move him to Calphin asap. He has to be 2.5 years first. Effective swimming techniques and better coaching can’t be beat. Not sure if it is age-​related, maturity level, or just plain overall teaching experience, Calphin instructors are just better. We definitely have had good instructors at ASA (in Newark and way past when the Fremont facility was in its prior location) but the good ones moved on to manager positions where they seem to teach less classes. I was knocking myself in the head when we found this place, with its location closer to us too.
My 5 year-​old son alone would be the best reason for the move. He has learned more in his first session at Calphin than 6 months’ equivalent. He came in as Bubbler I/​II. There are no sticker books to keep track of progressions and he doesn’t miss that because he has improved so drastically. My 7 year-​old daughter and her friend both entered the large pool at Glider I. They are pushing it at that level (other 2 kids older and more advanced in their class) but we wanted them pushed and not go into the smaller pool after trying out the big one. I spoke with someone about this and they were very understanding and accomodating so let them stay. Their instructor is disciplined, focused, and so good at spotting and correcting bad technique immediately. You feel so happy knowing your kid is getting world-​class instruction.
I wonder if there are not as many positive reviews because it might make people want to come here.

I have been to every swim lesson facility in the area. Newark, Fremont and Union City. This place is the best of them all. Yes it is hard to find a parking spot. And there are a lot of places to park. You can even spill over to the Luckys shopping parking lot and walk a bit. Walking never hurt you. And yes the bathroom floors are a bit, lets call it, used by all. So by the end of the day there is water and possibly some trash on the floor, because people do not know how to pick up after themselves. But some of the reviews I have read stated the floors were dirty, so when I inspected them I expected mud or dirt all over. Nope just water and some trash or a bit of hair, normal usage. Not paper towels all over or toilet paper strung everywhere or mud or dirt. The coaching has been great, my daughter like to play around and the coach always keeps her on task. I have been to the school that have more room for people to watch, better parking and so on, and I find the quality of the swim classes and the length of the classes to be smaller for the same price. They have a large amount of people because they have more pool space, I cannot speak for the other teacher but the 2 my daughter has had have done a great job. My daughter started as a Bubbler 3 and now she is s Crawler 1. And now my teenager wants to learn proper swimming so she can join her high school swim team. She had her first lesson and she really liked it. If they are happy and learning I am happy.

Ok… So I have to give this place a 3 and a half. But to be fair, let me break this down. To put it into perspective, my child is enrolled in the Bubbler I class. My experience: I’ve been coached before and went all the way to Lifeguard training. We’ve been enrolled for 2 seasons now. I AM NOT ONE OF THE COACHES. Sorry Calfin, but you can’t have the coaches defend the place here. Do it by communicating to your members.
Coaching (5 stars): My opinion, the coaching is phenomenal. It may be a bubbler class, but there’s a noticeable progression with my child since she’s started. More confidence, not afraid to hang off the side, etc. These are things that typically terrify kids, but they did a great job of overcoming fears. The ratio is low, and while some may compare that «my child is getting enough attention» (my comments about this later) they do their best to work with each and every child.
The Pool (4 stars): The pool itself is very well kept, and pretty nice. The bubble pool is pretty good, although there was one instance that the water quality was really bad. Note that I almost pulled my kid out because even the coaches were really hesitant. I let this one slide, because I figured it a fluke, and, they were already getting concerned looks from everyone. I’ve never seen it like this again, but it it does happen, I’ll let Unilocalers know.
Facilities and staff (3 stars): Small, parking is terrible, and the bathrooms floor are always dangerously wet. Now, you can’t do anything about parking and how big the place is, but I have to rate it low because it’s only fair since it does bother me. The staff are for the most part helpful. For those who think that are rude, see my next comment below. Yes, they are having staffing issues because the place is that busy. And yes, they may lack some communication. But considering the volume of people that are in the place HOUNDING them, it’s almost to be expected.
THE PARENTS: Ok, so this has nothing to do with the business, but it does affect it. First off, the reason why it’s crowded is because most of the parents come with more than 1 family member, we’re talking grandparents, husbands, wives, and not just kids. So yeah, it’s freaking packed in there. Next, THE STAFF ISN’T RUDE, THE PARENTS ARE. I’m not going to turn this into a full blown rant. Nor am I going to make assumptions. But I’ve seen the staff completely ripped and outwardly INSULTED by parents who thought they were «entitled». It pisses me off the most. Just because you can afford to enroll your 2+ kids in the school DOES NOT GIVE YOU ANY RIGHT TO THROW IT IN PEOPLE’S faces. I’ve been pushed aside so many times because some jacka$$ needed to get in the front of the line. I’ve heard parents yell at the top of their lungs «YOU’RE WRONG AND YOUR AN IDIOT». In front of kids! Jesus. I have to give it up to the staff. They have so much patience and take verbal abuse every day.
SO…if you want your child to get a good learning experience, then I highly recommend it. If you’re complaining about your child not getting the attention, then pony up for the 1 on 1 courses. If you are claustrophobic, do not come here… just drop your kid off and wait in the parking lot. And, if you’re one of those rude parents, TAKE A FREAKING CHILL PILL.

Crowded lanes, poor coaching, poor management communication and high student to teacher ratio!!! Stay away !!
My husband and I took adult swim classes this summer. We had been students at Happy Fish and we primarily considered Calphin because it had a longer lap pool and the coaching period was for 1 hour. We wanted to improve our stroke and speed. We were told at the beginning that we would be evaluated and then appropriately transferred to advance class. The evaluation never happened. Enrolling us in a beginners class truly hampered our progress. Most of the students would just stop mid way and stand in the middle of the lane. I understand that they are beginners but since the lanes were so crowded we could barely finish a full lap. When we joined we were told we would be evaluated and transferred to the appropriate class. But the evaluation was never done. Finally when I told the teacher that students stop mid lane so we cannot complete full laps he tried to transfer us to an advance class. But this was mid way into the program and by that time there were no openings. All the students in our summer class were very disappointed with the coaching at Calphin. On two occasional the coaches were not even in the pool. They were «teaching» us swimming by observing us outside the pool. One of the coaches tried teaching a student butterfly stroke outside the pool and she had to ask him to get inside the pool to teach her !!! She was really disappointed. Towards the end we were not evaluated by our coach but by a substitute teacher.
The communication by the front desk staff was thoroughly disapointing. We took off two weeks in summer and ended up missing 4 classes. According to Calphin policies, we notified them in advance by sending them an email. But they said they did not receive any notification. Their inbox is overflowing and they barely check their emails. Every time I talked to the front desk I would not get a proper response and I had to go back and forth for more than a month. I sent them a detailed email and I got no response. I was told a manager would call back but I never heard from anybody. All this went on and on for a month. I told them I don’t have the time to go back and forth and requested them to allow us to take 2 classes in the fall season to make up for the lost classes so we could move on. They made a huge fuss about that. It was so tiring talking to their management. The poor coaching, crowded lanes and terrible communication by the managers and front desk staff really, really puts us off. My husband, I and my son learned swimming at Happy Fish. Our experience was so much more better at Happy Fish.

Calphin has taught me so much about swimming and has gained me knowledge about it also. When I was about eight or nine years old, I started swimming at American Swim Academy and soon graduated from that swim school. Once I graduated from that swim school, I figured that I would not learn much more from that point and on, so I discovered Calphin and ever since then, I improved on my technique and speed as well. I started from the very bottom, and now I am a Master II. I am so proud of the instructers for helping me improve my swimming skills. The bathrooms are a bit dirty and the bleachers are crowded by the way. Overall, this is a great place to improve on swimming techniques and it is also cheaper then most places.

I’m an experienced swim coach of five years and I work here. I have worked for multiple aquatic clubs and have taught a variety of programs. Now, as a recent business I believe there are things about our program that can be improved. The staff and business are still growing and working on ways to make the program better.
There a few special things Calphin offers that other swim schools do not and that is part of the reason I enjoy working here. While most swim schools in the area will teach your kids the basis and be done with it, we do continue the progression through competitive level classes. Our higher level classes are a wonderful gateway to swim team for the younger kids; and for older kids is a good way to get exercise I have yet to work at any other facility that offers hour long classes that have a similar vibe to swimming team. Sprinter level through master level teaches swim team basics and essentials and gives the kids 1200 — 2000+ yd work out each class. While the students are doing a lot of laps, we still focus greatly on technique; much more so then swim team can. Even though higher level classes might seem large; there are way less kids then swim team so they get the same work out but with more feedback. This place is great to send summer league swimmers during the winter and fall in order to improve their technique and stay in shape. I really enjoy the emphasis on technique that Calphin offers.
There are many highly experienced coaches on staff. Some coaches are very strict and others are more friendly; so depending on what kind of experience you want for your child it is good to be aware of this. The good thing is that we can cater to different children’s needs with our variety of instructors. It’s possible to request strict coaches, vs. more kid friendly coaches, or male or female coaches when you register for class. Our variety of coaches, means a variety of different personalities to suite your children.
Our paced lessons are once a week; but I HIGHLY recommend doing intense program in summer. As a former swimmer myself I know for a fact it is much harder to progress swimming only once a week; and if you want quick progression I’d recommend swimming multiple times a week via paced program OR doing intense program. Intense program only happens in summer and swimmers do four days a week for three weeks. It’s great for both lower levels and higher levels.
We do our best to make our lessons as quality as we can, but as a growing business there are things we need to work on! Please give us feedback. There are very passionate folks on staff that are more than willing and able to cater to your children’s needs and we want your children to be successful at Calphin.
Our program is great for water fitness and learning good swimming technique. The progression system works differently than red cross program; they learn only one or two strokes at a time before moving to the next. That way we don’t have kids who can barely swim freestyle attempting butterfly. So if you want your children to know all four strokes very quickly we don’t really work that way. But we do make sure they have solid stroke foundation and endurance, so they can be successful as they learn all the strokes.
Many of the coaches have been here a long time and are very passionate, loving people. Some of us are here for long term, others are here as we get through schooling to move on to related careers (such as sports related careers or teaching careers). We love teaching your children and want to see them succeed. Our Deck Supervisors and Coachable Lifeguards will often hop in the water to give each class some extra attention, and we are doing this more and more to improve our program. Two instructors for the price of one!
These Unilocal reviews are very poor and most of them are outdated, so please come see our program for yourself, and hopefully leave a review for yourself.
Hope to see you there! :D

10 stars out of 5 possible.
Please shower and rinse off BEFORE you get in the pool. CDC strongly recommends that swimmers shower before jumping into the pool.
Instructors are great well trained.
Amazing teaching progressions.
Two pools. Small pool for beginners and larger pool for advanced swimmers.
The design of the facility could be better.
The workout room is a joke and could use free weights.
The founder of Calphin is a former Olympian. I asked why they don’t let you take videos and they apparently don’t want people to steal their teaching progressions. My son has taken classes at American Swim Academy and he’s progressed at least 2 – 3 times as fast with Calphin.
I have experience with teaching progressions and a solid background as former swim instructor, life guard, sailing and windsurfing instructor at various swimming pools and camps. I was going to teach my son myself, but recently I was so busy. I’m so glad I didn’t because these instructors do such a great job, even better than what I could do with my previous training.

After failed attempts to get my young daughter to swim at two other schools in the area, we gave this place a try. Somehow, she found this to her liking!
Instructors here are good — more focused on techniques.
The swim facility is good. Separate small pool for beginners, lane swim for others.
The change facility is okay. Smaller than the other schools.
Guest seating is borderline awful. Metal bleacher benches = not enough space for waiting parents on weekends. I am resigned to sitting in my car while waiting.