Aqua-Tots Swim School
Located behind Gold’s Gym near 1890 Ranch, this swim school offers lessons for adults and children ages 4 months-12 years old. Classes are designed for beginner, intermediate and advanced swimmers, and most lessons are 30 minutes long.
The school, which is open year-round, accepts registration for classes at any time and has a four-to-one student to instructor ratio for group classes. Semi-private lessons have a class of two students per instructor and private lessons offer one-on-one.
Specialty lessons include instruction for those in the Snap program, or Special Needs Adaptive Program. This program provides customized swim lessons to meet the individual needs of the swimmer and address his or her specific goals. Karin Chopin, regional director of Aqua-Tots, said the SNAP program has accommodated swimmers of all types, including blind children and swimmers with cerebral palsy.
Aqua-Tots’ curriculum is based firstly on safety and secondly on fun, Chopin said. Instructors provide parents and children with tips on how to prevent an accident, for example. Chopin said instructors teach children about boundaries as well as patience, such as teaching swimmers to count to three before taking an instructed action.
“If you are a comfortable and confident swimmer, you are definitely more protected,” Chopin said. “[We want swimmers] to be safer on the water and to love and enjoy swimming for life.”
1335 E. Whitestone Blvd., Bldg. Y, Ste. 100, Cedar Park
512-256-8687
www.aqua-tots.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-2 p.m., closed Sun.
Emler Swim School[/caption]Emler Swim School
At Emler Swim School, children and adults will find learn-to-swim programs and year-round indoor swimming. The location on US 183 has one large saltwater pool that maintains a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and is surrounded by a glass room so parents can watch the swim session away from the heat, Site Director Jen Brown said.
“We find it’s just a really great way for our kids to learn,” she said. “You remember being a kid—if the water was too cold, you didn’t want to get in. It just makes the experience so much more comfortable for them, and the more comfortable they are, the happier they are—and happy babies swim at the end of the day.”
Emler has a recreational swim team at its north location in Austin and its south location in Westlake, and the two hold swim meets a handful of times per semester, Brown said. Emler’s swim classes are offered for adults and children age 2 and older. The school also offers classes that focus on specific elements, such as stroke development.
“We really focus in on that 6-month to 5-or 6-year old six range of kids who are learning how to swim for the first time or maybe know how to swim but haven’t started some of the basic strokes,” she said.
Every four years during the Olympics, children from Emler are able to participate in the Munchkin Olympics. The program is held for children ages 6-months to 3 years old who have some swim skills, and the children compete in different events, receive ribbons and stand on the award stands to have their photo taken.
13492 N. US 183, Ste. 500, Austin
512-342-7946
www.emlerswimschool.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., closed Sun. except for private parties
Nitro Swimming[/caption]Nitro Swimming
One of the mottos at Nitro Swimming is “Others ‘do’ lessons...we teach swimming,” which Front Desk Manager Katie D’Avignon said the business takes to heart.
“We’re teaching swimming as a sport,” she said. “Instead of just learning to get across the pool, we’re teaching kids the right skills for swimming, so if they want to use swimming for exercise or if they want to be competitive, they have the right skills to do that.”
Nitro Swimming teaches children and adults how to swim through lessons and has a swim team. The Nitro Indoor Swim Center is equipped with a 50-meter, Olympic-size pool that is heated to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and a 20-yard lessons pool, which is kept between 88 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nitro also offers group swimming lessons for 6-month-old children through adults. Infant and parent lessons are for children between 6 months and 36 months of age, and Nitro One classes teach basic swim skills for beginners age 3 years and older, and aims to teach children to swim an elementary freestyle stroke. Nitro Two is aimed at intermediate-level swimmers, and it aims to prepare students for competitive swimming.
D’Avignon said the swim school offers low student-to-teacher ratios in each class and a curriculum that allows swimmers to progress at their own rate.
Nitro is also a member of the USA Swimming organization. The club team sent eight swimmers to compete in the US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, this year, and the Nitro team is the only gold medal team in the state, D’Avignon said.
1310 Toro Grande Drive, Cedar Park
512-259-7999
www.nitroswim.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m., closed Sun.
Waterloo Swimming[/caption]Waterloo Swimming
Swimmers as young as 6 months old can participate in lessons for fitness and competitive swimming at Waterloo Swimming’s new facility, which opened on RM 620 in June.
Waterloo’s 35 teachers and coaches host lessons in the teaching pool, which is heated to 88 degrees Fahrenheit, and the training pool, which is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The swim school offers group and private lessons.
Owners Mike and Gwynn Varozza said the instructors teach multiple skills and cooperate with area high school coaches to ensure students get the training they need. Students within Austin, Leander and Round Rock ISDs can receive off-campus physical education credits for taking Waterloo courses, Mike said. For competitive swimming-based classes, instructors focus on discipline, goal-setting, time management and fitness, he said.
“We teach like [classroom] teachers,” Mike said. “We don’t stop progress because somebody has mastered a skill. They continue learning.”
Mike said by parents enrolling their children in swimming courses, they are providing a pathway to a future in physical health.
“We want to educate the parents [that] what they’re doing is they are giving their kids the gift of fitness for life. By not only just going through and learning survival skills, but all four strokes, [and] years from now that student, when they are 40, 50, 60 years old can use swimming as an activity. That parent is investing in that kid’s fitness future.”
12332 N. RM 620, Austin
512-921-9893
www.waterlooswimming.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9:15-11:45 a.m.; 3-7 p.m.; Sat. 9:30 a.m.-noon; closed Sun.
