Jim Gorman’s Swim School

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.

My eight year-​old daughter has taken countless swimming lessons and at the beginning of this summer she was still unable to swim and was too embarrassed to go to pool parties or on play dates with friends. I was recommended this swim school by a friend, so I booked my daughter in for private lessons every day for the first two weeks of summer and three times per week after that. Her very first lesson she was jumping in at the deep and and by her second lesson she could swim across the pool freestyle. By her third lesson she was confident enough to jump of the diving board!
My daughter takes lessons with Serina and I can’t speak highly enough of her teaching skills. When it comes times for my son to learn to swim I will skip any type of group lesson and will put him straight in private lessons with Serina or another instructor at this school. One thing I have noticed during the countless lessons I have now watched, is that every instructor teaches each pupil the same set of skills and their method works.
If you want your child to learn a life-​long lesson quickly and in a confidence building way, then send them to Jim Gorman’s swim school!

I started taking my 6 months old baby to Jim’s swim classes a month ago. We try to go twice a week and I can see the result already. The baby is not afraid of having ears under the water, he started splashing the water. Jim is a great leader. I can see how passionate he is about kids and about his job. I’ve learned a lot about kid’s psychology from Jim as well. Also I highly appreciate all routines set up in place. Taking a shower after the swim class is very helpful — now my baby loves the shower! Water in the pool is very warm plus I do not feel chemicals in the water as well. Love it!

Jim is amazing with kids, and has a million creative ways to get kids to learn great swim form at an incredibly early age. My kids now fight over who gets to take the weekly lesson with Jim. If you consider how important a life skill swimming is, and how liberating it is to swim well and feel confident in the water, there really are fewer more important things that you can invest in. I really can’t express the value of Jim’s program, it is truly amazing.

The best swim school on the Peninsula — and we have been to a lot of them… JCC, La Petite Baleen, Parks/​Rec…
My daughter started with private lessons here at around 4. The philosophy is a bit different than other schools — they teach kids how to swim by teaching them how to float on their back (as an interim way to breath). It’s a bit irregular at first, but it totally works.
We started my son at a bunch of well-​regarded group swimming programs from San Francisco all the way to Redwood City. But after 2 years of these group lessons with 4 – 6 kids, the actual swim time and attention wasn’t enough and he wasn’t a strong swimmer and not water safe.
We just recently brought both kids back to Ladera/​Jim Gorman and in just two lessons, they have improved more than the past 2 years of group lessons. The teachers are great, patient, attentive and just good teachers.
Ladera Oaks club was recently renovated so it’s also just a nice place to hang out while the kids swim in the warm outdoor pool (it’s warm even in the winter)
Even financially, group lessons may appear less expensive, but progress is 5x slower.
One caveat, everything is pencil/​paper based (literally) and so scheduling times and payment is done the old fashioned way (checks, handwritten appointment book). Impossible to schedule anything online or over phone, everything is in person.

We love Jim! We started taking our little guy there for water babies and have now begun one on one lessons with Jim. In water babies Jim teaches the parents as much as the kids about water safety and the child’s relationship to water.
He has tons of experience teaching kids to swim and an arsenal of techniques and activities to keep them engaged and focused.
The lessons are at Ladera Oaks club but you don’t need to be a member to go for lessons — a huge plus!
Jim also provides lots of at home activities to help the child learn and get comfortable with water.
My one beef is he runs late (5 – 15 min) but so far this has been worth it for us.