Swimjim

I am a first time reviewer, but felt compelled to review after reading the reviews for this company. SwimJim’s teachers are some of the best out there. Their in water instruction and passion for teaching children is amazing. They focus on water safety and the importance of teaching a child the proper technique of swimming. Did my child learn how to swim in 1 – 2 months? No. But my son would not be a proficient basketball player after 1 – 2 months of basketball practice. I can’t recommend SwimJim enough.

Our daughter started as an infant (6 months) and we have been very happy with the instruction (we’ve been going for 8 months). Because the participants are so young, they basically do the same thing every class, but she is so small she doesn’t care — and you can see over time how she is getting more comfortable with the water and submersion, and how she is getting the idea of locomotion through kicking.
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Their skipped class policy could be more flexible (for example, give us a two or three «passes» a year for vacations, sickness etc. instead of always charging us for missed classes. It would generate a lot of good will and make us feel better about SwimJim).

I scheduled my child, erroneously, to start swimming on a holiday weekend. I called back literally 5 minutes later to re-​schedule for the following week and was NOT allowed to switch dates; I was told to call back on the «first of the month» (I called on August 3, 2015) in September to re-​schedule a make up date. What? Why the inflexibility? This will be the last time I’m using this company.
The idea of using local pools for swimming lessons is great, BUT this company is managed horribly with horrible policies. Don’t get mesmerized by the convenience this may provide.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. They are geared towards small children and yet, they lock parents into auto-​payments and horrific fees for their convenience.
I was ok with paying and not having a chance for make-​ups if my kid was sick. But then they emailed about promotions for the next year and at the same time charged me the regular rate almost a month an a half in advance! When I asked for a return, they kept 30% — for what? bad policy.
As for the lessons. My son was excited at first. I went to see the class once. I was not impressed, but as long as he wanted to go, I was fine. Now his comments are «we do not learn anything anymore», «It’s the same thing». I understand that one needs repeat similar strokes and exercises. But there is no feedback from instructors, there is no info on how my kid is doing and whether he is ready to be moved to another level. There is nothing, just auto-​debited charges!
There are better places on UES and with more flexibility.

Find another swim school. Do not sign up for their monthly classes as they are completely inflexible. SwimJim charge your credit card one month in advance so march 1^st you are paying for April classes. If you need to change a class schedule they tell you there is nothing available so you are stuck paying a month of class. If your kids have school holidays you have to pay for the classes during the holidays. If you never travel this might work for you. If you want your kid to move up a group they will tell you they are not ready but the real reason is that they do not have a space available. They have been telling us for 4 months that our son is going to move up. For the older kids the class works as the kids get to swim the full 30 min or 1 hr depending on the class but for the smaller kids just learning to swim they must go with an instructor. I clocked my sons last class and he actually swam for 5 mins the rest of the time he just stud in the water.

Swim Jim «runs» the pool in our building and I was told to call them to organize my son’s birthday party. From the beginning, I never got the same person on the phone. Each one gave me conflicting and incorrect information. They are rude, disorganized and unprofessional. On the day of the party, they sent one (terrible and bored looking) lifeguard instead of the two that they promised. No one called to apologize or explain but they did call for their payment. Unbelievable.

As far as the instructors go, our first one was fine — she at least was animated around the children and seemed to put them at ease. The second one we had was terrible — clearly bored and seemed to care less about the children. Just taught like a robot. The classes were very boring for my son who was still doing the exact same thing up and down the pool 6 months after he started.
Most of my review though is for their staff. My building contracts out to Swim Jim to run our pool. They completely take over our building’s pool and there’s rarely a time when I go that isn’t completely taken over by Swim Jim classes leaving residents one small lane to share. I have seen every single lifeguard who is ON DUTY with a cell phone in their lap, either texting or checking emails — WHILE they’re sitting in the lifeguard chair supposedly watching our children. All of the staff are very young and there never seems to be a real adult in charge. Twice when I was sitting in a lounge chair facing the pool to watch my children, a staff person came over and without saying a word closed the sliding glass door right in front of me preventing me from watching my children swim (the glass is not see through with the reflection of the sun). The first time when I asked why she closed it (especially without saying a word to me first) she said the swim teachers were cold in the pool (it was 90 degrees out). When I said I wouldn’t be able to watch my children and that I was a resident of the building she just shrugged her shoulders and walked away. The second time the exact same thing happened — not a word to me first when it was clear I was facing and watching my children swim. Again she told me a teacher in the pool was cold. I said I was a resident and wanted the door open because I needed to watch my children since she was too busy on her cell phone to do her job. She finally left it open and the teacher in the pool yelled up at me, «FINE, I’LL JUST FREEZE!» Again, it was at least 85 degrees out.
The staff are mostly young, rude and unprofessional.

They manage the pool in our building. I was fortunate enough to watch them before deciding on giving my son lessons with them. A few of their staff are nice the rest are straight up rude and nasty. I don’t like how they interact with the children. I have a pool in the building and I pay to go elsewhere for lessons — that says a lot about my interactions with them. Take your money elsewhere you will not be sorry.

I had a terrible experience with SwimJim. If you want your kid to ENJOY swimming DO NOT GO TO SWIMJIM!!!
SwimJim’s VERY STRONG point of view is that if children aren’t comfortable in the water you should «let them cry it out». During a Mommy and Me class that I attended with my son, one of the kids «cried it out» for weeks at the recommendation of the SwimJim staff, until she started to have terrible diarrhea whenever she came near the pool. Eventually her wise parents stop taking her to the classes.
I had a similar bad experience with SwimJim’s «cry it out» policy. My son loved the Mommy and Me class, but when we moved him to a class where he was on his own, he was afraid to go into the water by himself. The first week I did as they advised and let him «cry it out». The next we he wouldn’t go anywhere near the pool. So, I sat on the edge of the pool with him to get him interested in the class. By the end of that class he actually got into the pool. The next week I got him to go into the pool and again I sat on the edge. By the end of that week he was participating in the class. The next week my plan was to sit on the edge and hopefully get him fully participating in the class. My sense was he just needed one more class with me close by in order to get comfortable.
Unfortunately there was a substitute instructor and he and the lifeguard insisted that I sit on the other side of the room away from where the class was taking place. I tried to explain that we were so close to getting him used to the class but they insisted the rule was that parents had to sit on the other side of the pool (this rule had never been shared or enforced before this day). I offered to move back a few feet to a place where other parents regularly sat, but where my son could still see me. Again, they insisted that I sit at the other end of the pool. The lifeguard especially was amazingly rude. I went to the place where she insisted that I sit and of course my son freaked out. So all the progress we had made was lost.
I was willing to find a resolution to the situation if SwimJim would have been willing to work with me. Unfortunately I both emailed and called about the situation and never heard back from them. I found this appalling! After over a year of consistently paying for swimming lessons they didn’t even have the decency to call me back!
Looking back, I think SwimJim’s entire approach is just wrong. They have no patience for kids who don’t immediately take to swimming. This is not just a perception, it is written in literature that is found at the swimming sites. If you are lucky enough to have a kid who is a natural swimmer, then SwimJim might be ok for you, but beware if your kid isn’t immediately comfortable. I’m sure they will HATE swimming by the time SwimJim is done with them!!!
STAY AWAY!!!

All 4 of my kids learned to swim with SwimJim. 2 of them were fully swimming on their own by the age of 2.5! While teacher consistency can be a problem, as it is with EVERY program I tried in NYC (and I tried them all before I found SwimJim), at least all the teachers are consistently and rigorously trained, so that the class itself is consistent. SwimJim’s focus on muscle development and bouancy control ensured that my kids were strong and confident swimmers.

terribly rude! it takes forever to schedule classes: they really need to do something about their client servicing. not worth the bother. at all!

My friend and I ended up getting 4 lessons via Groupon. We weren’t thrilled that we were limited to only Friday classes and on top of that — it was very difficult to schedule our classes. After a few months, we learned that you MUST call on the first day of the month as soon as they open. At the beginning, they weren’t good w/​answering their phone or returning messages including sending a message to them via their website. One thing that highly bugs me is that the locker room is beyond super ghetto (Skyline Hotel location) and the pool was a bit grimy.
One huge + thing is that my instructor (Cody) is very good and helpful.

I took my son to swim jim and he did not learn a thing. the instructor did not know what he was doing and I later found out they are not wsi certified
I will stick to teaching him my self.

Don’t bother. Highly disorganised. Chaotic classes. Staff are not helpful. Plenty of other properly run swim class options in the city. Avoid Swim Jim. Thank me later.

the instructors are pretty good, but they roll over so often there is no consistencey. my son was diving without assistance, and then the instructor changed, and the new person insists on holding him… like he did LAST YEAR.
swim jim is so poorly organized, it is impossible to give it a good review. they BS you about being able to reschedule a class, but then you find that you CAN’T reschedule because ALL THE CLASSES ARE BOOKED. they have no «make up» days as the other swim places do. (i’ve heard that «take me to the water» is good.)
furthermore, i think they are unethical. they won’t advance your kid to the next level until they have an opening. my friend’s son was told he’d be ready to advance in a couple of weeks (at the beginning of the month, when new classes start.) but then it turned out that the classes were booked, so suddenly he «wasn’t ready.»
another friend’s kid was ignoring the teacher and basically wasting the lessons for FIVE WEEKS, but nobody bothered to mention it to her — they just kept taking her money. her babysitter usually took the kid to swim class, so she NEVER would have found out except that she happened to pick him up one day and the instructor told her. but the instructors and the «business» people don’t seem to communicate.
it’s also annoying because you can’t call the pool directly. you have to call the office, and they never pick up (or return phone calls), so good luck if you have an emergency and have to reach the pool. and if THEY ever have to cancel, they let you come to the pool and get changed before they tell you class has been canceled. they really have their heads up their you-​know-​whats.
three friends and i have quit. unless you want to piss away your money, try one of the other swim programs around the city.

If you are in the market for kid swimming classes, you can’t beat these guys! My son has learned a tremendous amount since we signed him up for weekly lessons back in October.
The focus is on safety and fun. And, if your kid is old enough (ask them for the age limit, I’m not sure) they won’t make you get in the water with them! They have a little playpen-​like thing in the water and the kids wait there if the teacher is with another swimmer.
We go Saturday AMs at the 10^th Avenue location and our son loves his teacher. The pool is crowded but always feels in control and safe. Plus, I gather the water is as warm as a tub.
Come on in, the water’s fine!