If you're looking for an experienced, friendly, patient and genuinely caring swim coach, I can…read morehighly recommend Betty! As an adult beginner I wanted to work with someone who had experience teaching all different types of learners. I also wanted to work with someone who would not only teach me, but also explain why we were doing each move, technique etc (I learn better when I understand why). Betty was flexible with lessons when schedules needed to be adjusted, or offering me earlier slots if a session became available at short notice. I'm delighted to say that within 2 months of lessons, I can swim confidently and now am focused on improving my technique. It actually took less time to learn how to swim with Betty, but I wanted to spend more time on technique once I'd grasped the fundamentals. I highly recommend Betty!

I've wanted to learn freestyle swimming for a long time, and I'm so glad I found Betty to help me…read moreachieve that goal. Her teaching style is clear, encouraging, and effective. She made the entire learning process enjoyable, and I was able to pick up freestyle with ease thanks to her expert guidance. Betty was also amazing with my 2-year-old daughter, who was initially scared to get her head underwater. With Betty's patience, creativity, and encouragement, my daughter overcame her fear and, by the second class, was confidently swimming underwater! Betty's ability to connect with toddlers through fun games and a supportive approach is truly impressive. My daughter loves her time in the water, and I couldn't be more grateful. Betty's reputation as a swim instructor has spread throughout our building, and many of my neighbors are using her as their swim coach! If you're looking for an instructor who is fantastic with both adults and children, Betty is an amazing choice. Her skill, patience, and passion for teaching really shine through in every lesson. Thank you Betty!

Strongly recommend, particularly for a first time swimmer, if you have access to a pool…read more Had an amazing experience with Coach Michael. We were able to get access to a pool for the summer through our HOA. Within just a few lessons, our 1.5 year old is way more comfortable. He used to hate any water over his face or ears, and now he can go underwater for 3-4 seconds no problem! Michael's patient but persistent approach ensures we make steady progress without pushing our son too far. Looking at prices for group lessons at Goldfish, these 1:1 lessons at our desired location are only 2x more, which feels like a deal.

First swim class is amazing! They were able to work with me to do private lessons for my 18 month…read moreold and 4 year old. Coach Luie is the best. My son did not like being in the water at first and cried for the first several lessons. Coach Luie was so patient with him and made sure that he built trust. My daughter loves him and looks forward to every lesson. She progressed fast thanks to Coach Luie. They make class fun by singing songs, playing games, and learning techniques in a way that kids can understand "scooping icecream" with your hands. The class makes sure they learn safety in the water. I would highly recommend them.

Updating my review because I need to give some love to our amazing teacher Crystal!! We took the…read morefall & winter season off from lessons since we would be out of town quite a bit and end up missing classes anyways. We started up with lessons again in the spring and needless to say we regressed quite a bit. Luckily for us, our new teacher has been so supportive and encouraging to our 2 year old. Our first lesson back was pretty rough with lots of tears, but Crystal encouraged us to keep at it and not give up. Over the last four weeks, our son has become so much more comfortable in the water. Crystal has cheered him on the whole time and always moved at a pace he is comfortable with, while slowly encouraging him to try new things. She has been so patient and encouraging, and he has grown to love swim again!! Thanks you Crystal for getting us comfortable in the water again!

They swim only like 5 yards for little kids, don't challenge them…read more They made the biggest progress when I took them for swim myself. Money wasting experience.

Mixed Feelings :Great Start in Adult Group Level 1, But Disappointed in Level 2…read more I was genuinely excited to enroll in Level 2 swim lessons this year after having such a positive experience in Level 1. My coach in Level 1 was amazing,patient, encouraging, and I truly felt like I was learning and growing as a swimmer. Unfortunately, my Level 2 experience didn't live up to those expectations. On the first day, I was assigned to a coach , and it quickly became clear that he didn't have a structured plan in place. There were only two of us in the session, yet I felt like the other swimmer received the bulk of the attention. As someone who's still very much a beginner and working through things like fear of the deep end, I felt unseen and uncomfortable. Building trust and rapport in a learning environment like this is essential,and I didn't feel like that was prioritized. That said, I did appreciate that he introduced side swimming, which was a new and useful skill for me. So there were some moments of learning! During the second lesson, there was a new coach . Once again, I had to re-explain my swimming background. He was kind and acknowledged that he hadn't been given any info about the students beforehand, which explained some of the confusion. He reassured me that I belonged in Level 2, but I still felt mostly overlooked during the session as the more advanced swimmers got the majority of his attention. Because of these experiences, I ended up missing the final two classes;one due to travel, and the other because I just didn't feel comfortable returning. I didn't see the value in making up the missed session given how things had gone. While I'm grateful for the strong foundation I got in Level 1, my experience in Level 2 left me frustrated and disappointed. I'm sharing this review in hopes that the program improves communication as I emailed them my experience 07/06/2025 and haven't received any response yet and support for all swimmers, especially those still building confidence in the water.

The star rating is specifically for the portion of class I was able to attend. The class itself was…read moregreat, but the hassle and difficulty of getting/parking around here would make this otherwise a one star rating, as you can read below. I've been wanting to get my baby into swim lessons since about the time she was six months old, but just didn't get to it until now. They do offer infant lessons, so I signed up. I don't know that we'll be at the pool a lot, but I also recently started bathing her in the tub, and I want her to be safe there as well and decided it was time. Lakeside may be the closest swim option to us since it's maybe 10 minutes from my home and I've heard good things. I was really pleased that I was able to get in so easily--my friend is taking her son to swim lessons at another, more well-known brand of swim school, and it took her several weeks on the wait list to get in. The price is the best I've seen, and it's easy to register--I have been able to register just a few days before the class I wanted to attend, and for the baby lessons I didn't have to sign up for a month in advance or specific number of classes, which is a huge bonus. The instructor, Josie, was nice. I enjoyed our class a lot; it was small and the instructor was able to give us attention. The baby wasn't sure about being in the water, and got upset a bit (especially just as we were getting in), but she calmed as the lesson continued. The teacher sang some songs so we could bounce and sway and twirl. She showed me some techniques for getting the baby acclimated to the water and to entering the pool, and getting the baby's legs kicking (though she wasn't real keen on kicking at that point). I actually wanted to take adult swim lessons here too since they offer them. Unfortunately, as great as it was, I just can't continue paying $25-30 per class when out of the two we've signed up for, I've only been to half of one of them. Because of the parking (see further down), we weren't here until about halfway through the lesson, and the second class I signed up for we missed altogether though I left 20+ minutes early. By the time we got there, got her swim ready, and started heading toward the pool it just wouldn't be possible for me to get in with her in my arms for the last 10 minutes of class. And maybe it's still the pregnancy hormones but I was fighting back tears. So even though the class is easy to get into and the class size is great, I don't think that Lakeside works for me because I don't generally have time in the morning to leave an hour before class to make sure we can find parking. If I was in walking distance, this would hands down be my choice. Logistically, the address listed for the swim school is the Edgewater Athletic Club address, which for some reason is the Granville side. But don't let that fool you because the entrance is about halfway down the block on the Kenmore side of the building. The Edgewater Athletic Club has no access on the Granville side of the building. There's some parking across the street, though the lot is tiny and can be really hard to get parked into (it's a little narrow). The lot has 14 spaces, of which one is a disabled spot, shared with several businesses. But the lot is terrible. It's too small to have cars parked in straight, as it's currently designed, though I know they do it because it allows for more cars than diagonal parking does. But the parking lot isn't even wide nights three cars would fit if parked bumper to bumper, so getting in and out is not for the faint of heart (and if you don't like parallel parking this would probably stress you out). I waited for another car to leave so that I could pull out more easily since they came out a couple minutes after we got into the car. In theory, there's lots of street parking, which one may think would easier when Loyola is out since the dorms are only a couple blocks away but you'd be wrong. I've never seen apartment buildings with driveways in Chicago the way they are in this area; along Kenmore almost all of them have them, so what you think may be a spot is actually the driveway for apartment parking. I can't help but wonder if some of the cars belong to students who don't move them often. And if the parking is that bad in the morning, I think it would be worse in the evening so I think I need to continue looking for adult lessons, too.

Buddha Belly Kids Yoga is a Chicago-based mobile-business. We found them at other businesses around…read moretown like Little Goat Diner, Mr. Dave Music, and Bump Club and Beyond. My children were immediately drawn in to the kids yoga and Ms. Erin (an educator and certified yoga instructor for children), so we looked up her business and started attending classes... now we are "regulars" wherever we can find BBKY. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, BBKY offers virtual classes several time a day: baby and toddler yoga, kids yoga, storybook yoga, yoga and mindfulness summer camps for ages 7-12, dance classes, movement classes, and parent support workshops with health experts. BBKY is affordable and the classes are engaging and playful. Even online, my kids are still super engaged with Ms. Erin and love the warm, interactive environment she creates. They have learned breathing techniques, different yoga poses that they do with their loveys/animals, songs with movements, and relaxation (they *love* savasana!). Ms. Erin always says "anything your kid does is yoga" - this has helped me all day long when I am parenting my kids, not just in her classes. BBKY is a gem here in Chicago. Highly recommended.

I was first introduced to Buddha Belly Yoga at a local event and my daughter was instantly "playing…read moreyoga" with the instructor. Since then we have embraced their classes, in person and virtually, as part of our "Surviving Parenthood" toolkit - especially during 2020 and the initial COVID shut downs. It has given us a routine that was fun and worked out body mind and souls, and both of our children, ages 5 and 10, are still loving it years later. BBKY offers in person, virtual and on demand classes for kids of all ages and their adults

Kristi is awesome! My wife and I enjoyed working with her for our swim lessons. She is a constant…read morepro and works with you until you establish and perfect your fundamentals in the water. Thank you for all your help!

The best kept secret! I took two of my kids to see Kristi. My youngest son turned 10 and for some…read morereason we never really got to the point where he was fully swimming. Group lessons were really not a great fit at this point, because he was embarrassed to swim with kids much younger than him. I found Kristi online and gave her a call. She was so easy to talk to, totally got what I needed and told me to bring my older daughter at the same time to see if she needed help, too. After two sessions my son is swimming, neither kid is holding their nose or cares about having their face in the water and they are so much more comfortable. I couldn't be happier. The pool / facilities are super clean, parking is easy and she's so much fun - the kids love going there and think Kristi is the greatest person on earth! If you have a kid who's a tad nervous about water or not good in group settings, give Kristi a call. It's absolutely worth it.

I admit I'm not training for a Triathalon...I'm training for something much more difficult, zipping…read moreup my pants! This is a fantastic boutique gym. I've wavered for a long time whether to join, having enjoyed XSport very, very much. However, Well Fit is great even if you're not training for a triathlon! The gym is clean, very friendly, always available. You never must worry about getting to a machine or weights. Remember, they don't have a lot of "machines" which is the beautiful thing. I've learned that using free weights and a ball or whatever helps you get in shape much more quickly. The staff is just fantastic, I mean the BEST. Sharon the owner always has a smile and a word of encouragement, as does Keith and the rest of the staff. The members are fantastic. They are courteous and kind, friendly and thoughtful. There are no egos which overwhelm here. It's worth it to join here for the cleanliness of the facilities, the friendliness and knowledge of the staff, and the tremendous members who make it a warm and inviting gym. With those factors, it makes you want to go to the gym more often!!!! GREAT VALUE! Sharon...longer hours would be nice!

Excellent experience with Coach Ted. Good facility. Next time I'll try the altitude room.read more

We came here with a couples deal for a 90-minute Surfset class, but it happened to have just been…read morethe two of us that night - yay private session! The Surfset workout was really fun. Definitely worth a try! Even if you work out regularly, doing all those familiar exercises while balancing on the Surfset is a whole new challenge and really good way to mix it up. I wouldn't call my lifestyle completely "active" - if anything, my love for food and indulgence is basically the opposite, but Kimberly was encouraging and understanding, willing to tailor it up or down to our needs with each exercise we were doing. I felt challeneged in a very positive way without feeling like I was put down. Her dedication to fitness is an inspiration. I really wish that we could have this equipment to use without her instruction ALL the time or have it always be in a class setting, but the first time you'd definitely need someone to tell you what you can do with the thing. Go give it a try! This is pretty much the only place in the area you can do it, and I wholeheartedly recommend Kimberly for the experience. Looks like she's also running groupon deals.... so you should go buy one.

Finding my inner surfer girl...this was a great class to add to my workout routine. Signing up was…read moresuper easy to do online, and it was a little tricky to find the entrance (you need to go the rear of the building - look for the white sign in the front with red writing for MyBody Complex). It so happened to be one-on-one session today, and I had a blast. It's definitely challenging but in a good way. I was thankful that I had previous experience working on a Bosu ball, which made the balancing easier, and for the work that I've done with my trainer and in Pilates. Be prepared for an awesome all-body workout..you will engage your core the whole time (various ab exercises/mountain climbers/balancing on the board), upper body (planks/tricep dips/pushups), lower body (squats/lunges) but it was great because Michal totally adjusted the class to what I was able to do. A great find on Groupon (you can get a package of 1,3, or 5 classes) and I highly recommend trying it out!