1. Big Blue Swim School

1. Big Blue Swim School

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Chicago, IL

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Big Blue Swim School

4.0 (36 reviews)
Closed 3:30 pm - 7:30 PM
Updated 3 months ago

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Reviews With Photos

My son with his dad in the "Baby Blue" trial class
Anisa F.

We first attended the free trial when my son was 1 year old, I think it was a great option to offer to parents who are shopping around for swim lessons. The infant/1yr old trial calls for a parent/guardian to be in the water with their baby which is a sweet way to bond. We ended up holding off on enrolling him for no specific reason but once he turned three we knew we shouldn't put it off any longer. We returned for weekly lessons and it's been really great to have something for him to do during the winter and we especially love how warm they keep the water & the entire pool area. The teachers have all been really enthusiastic and patient with our rambunctious 3 year old. There are benches in close proximity to the pool so parents can be nearby, but there are windows surrounding the pool and plenty of seating for parents to sit outside the pool area (which can get pretty warm). The facilities have spacious changing rooms, showers and hair dryers which is a nice touch! I would definitely recommend this place for any kiddos in need of lessons .

people bring outside shoes right to the pool
Natalia T.

The good: friendly staff and overall atmosphere. Easy to park. The bad: pool deck is filthy and unsanitary . They allow people walk right to the side of the pool and shower area in their outdoor shoes. In rainy weather there are chunks of dirt along the pool and shower area where children walk barefooted and this dirt ends up in the water. They have a sign to remove "dirty shoes" but they don't enforce it. Both my husband who was in the water and my child developed some vomiting and diarrhea after attending an infants class, that made them really sick for several days. This is a shame, because I would otherwise continue to take our child there.

Lack of safety, lack of relationships, and lack of credentials -- no life guards on deck. (Eg. Goldfish does have lifeguards and affiliations) I was here last year (around March), and stopped when my son had a trainee take him to another lane. It was one-on-one, so it seems great, but his hair never got wet. The trainee just walked my son around the pool carrying him. He was 4 at the time. I brought it up to their attention, and asked if I could cancel without their hassle of rules... I was nice about it. They didn't contact me about it, and cancelled for me. It would have been nice to have a conversation, but I was happy that they weren't going to give me a hard time about cancelling. (note: the trainee at the time was Fabian, and he's still at this school so that's good at least) *Prior to this day, we did have a wonderful instructor. She was the sweetest to all of the children, and tried to teach my son a bit extra when she could have just 1-2 minutes of one on one time with my son.* So lovely. Present day, he's 5 y/o, and we are back again. We have had 4 sessions Thursday evenings at 4:30pm. Facility is clean and friendly. I did notice a lack of life guards and management/staff appear much different than last year. The vibe felt different too. Note, I'm always sitting at the bench with my son -- not the waiting area. Session 1: Went well. A male instructor. I don't know his name. Session 2: Learned that we have a new regular instructor named Xavier. No Xavier. Last minute substitute. We were notified of the sub, but the instructor that showed up, was not the same person shown on the app and email. All is good though. She was great. Session 3: No Xavier still. Last minute substitute. Same instructor from session 2. All is good. The last and only session, session 4: Still no Xavier. Does he exist? That's fine. Subs have been great anyway. New instructor this time, Kim, and a trainee. My son is 5, and is not a swimmer. He's still wearing a backpack floatie. The instructor and the trainee were too busy talking to each other. There were only two kids in this session by the way. It was my son's turn to "swim" to the floating toy. He went under the water by accident and unsupervised. This is his first time. I froze trying not to make a scene and waited for him to come up -- *because I am not here trying to ruin relationships with people who will help my son thrive.* There are two sets of eyes in this lane, but none were on him. My son got up, and went back to the wall on his own, and told them what happened. They didn't know. ***How it was resolved:*** 1. I received a text message before session 4 started, while I was in the waiting area, asking for feedback in regard to "Xavier." I rated my experience as a 1, and they asked why. I responded about what happened, but they did not respond. 2. I called, and the membership agent was super kind. She was empathetic about my concerns. I am not asking for anything to be spectacular here, but water safety is not to be taken lightly. This agent said she would personally follow up on this case. I wasn't sure if I believed her, but she really did. 3. A senior manager (Lazar ) from the North Center location reached out to me. Talked to me, and was equally as caring and empathetic. I did ask hard questions that he could not answer. The questions were over his pay grade-- and if there is a lack of state regulation, that's over anyone's head too. He can only do so much. He did admit to the high turnover rate and why there aren't life guards. There was no denying here. To try to mend our relationship with the school, he refunded Session 4 back to me, and offered the next 3 months to me at 10% off. He also assigned a specific instructor (Ms. Stevie) to me who was described as someone consistent and nurturing. It sounded like he wanted to make sure my family could gain trust in the school. He said the manager above him would reach out to me to follow up as well. ***How the resolution was undone*** The manager, Patrick Duffy, calls me to discuss. He tried twice and I missed them. He's trying. Cool. I finally got back to him, and this call lasted no more than 3 minutes. He asks what happened, and as I tell the story, he DENIES that my son was unsupervised under the water. That it's CORRECT for my son to be under the water because it's a swim school. I had to stop him to reiterate what happened, "My son was unsupervised and that the two did not know this until he told them." Patrick responded, "Ma'am, I don't think we are the right school for you." He was real quick not to try to make things right. Even if I was irrational and delusional, why was he trying to undue the resolution? I have a feeling he was afraid of a lawsuit. Take this with a grain of salt in case something like this happens to you.

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1 month ago

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1 year ago

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1 year ago

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3 years ago

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5 years ago

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6 years ago

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7 years ago

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4 years ago

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7 years ago

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Chris D.

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4 years ago

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4 years ago

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5 years ago

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7 years ago

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Brendan M.

Thank you for taking the time to leave us this review, Ubert B!

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5 years ago

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7 years ago

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5 years ago

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Sheila T.

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7 years ago

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Brendan M.

Megan H, thank you for the 5-stars! We appreciate your feedback.

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4 years ago

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Chris D.

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7 years ago

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Brendan M.

Carmen P, thank you so much for this wonderful review!

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4 years ago

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5 years ago

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Joel C.

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6 years ago

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Katrina P.

Thank you Katie for your kind words!

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7 years ago

Great neighborhood swim school for our child. Instructors are really great - our child has learned so much while there.

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Brendan M.

Nat P, thank you for the 5-star review!

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7 years ago

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Brendan M.

K R, thank you for this fantastic review!

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Ask the Community - Big Blue Swim School

Review Highlights - Big Blue Swim School

My granddaughter started out at Dolphin at 18 months, then Foss for several years.

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It's a good place to learn how to swim for the little ones .! I seen my kid improve a lot, in a…read morelittle time .! A lot of coaches too in this facility.! Great staff . I give 4 stars just because sometimes they spend time fixing googles , it can take them ( 5 minutes by doing that , looking at the time ( clock wise) too I se them a lot .! In every minute count for me .! Instead of checking the clock they should focus more on starting the class.

Not a great place unless you don't have other options. Both Gold Fish and Big Blue are designed to…read morekeep you in the program and paying money by having your kids make very slow improvements, but not really to teach them how to swim as quickly as possible. They get hung up on micro movements and use it as an excuse to stall progression. It's rediculous. Off the two we did like Gold Fish better. This issues is was particularly pronounced when we brought our daughter to swim lessons in another country. The approach was night and day. She learned more in two lessons there than she did in 20 lessons at Gold Fish. The teacher even pointed out that our daughter hadn't made much progress in one year since he had seen her last. Gold Fish is a racket. They will teach your kids to swim.... eventually. But you are much better off putting your kiddo in a different swim school or in another activity they enjoy. Note: we did share this concern directly with management last year. It resulted in our daughter magically being passed to the next level... which her instructors had stated she was ready for weeks prior, but the "tester" refused to pass her. We again spoke with the "tester" this time and expect to hear back from management, but like last time it won't change their business model or practices of keeping you in the program vs. teaching kids to swim efficiently.

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Goldfish Swim School
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I absolutely love Lincoln Square Athletic Club. I have been a member for about two months now, this…read moreis my home gym, and I have made great use of the multi-gym membership to workout all over the city with trainers and friends. Lincoln Square in particular I love because of the amenities and staff. The sauna and steam room have become a regular part of my routine, especially after a rowdy weekend when I am looking to get back to baseline faster. The equipment at LSAC is solid, with a heavy focus on free weights, cables, and cardio. Like any of the CAC locations, if you are looking to throw out gnarly 200lb vanity lifts on machines, just get a membership at Planet Fitness and save yourself the trouble, you might even find folks at the big box gyms to cheer you on! The staff is friendly and accommodating, and given that I am a visibly queer/trans person, I have never had issues using the locker room I am most comfortable in. Staff and members alike never look twice at me post-top surgery, something that genuinely wasn't true at places like PF or LA Fitness. If you're looking for a well rounded gym to truly work on your health and physique, you probably won't find one at a better price point. Like all gyms, be wary of cancellation policies and just pay the extra $5 a month to be month to month rather than locking yourself into annual contracts. If you think CAC is hard to get out of, I encourage you to try to get out of PF membership that you opened before moving to another state (hint: I literally had to close my bank account and open a new one because THAT was easier). Happy lifting, and be reasonable in your expectations of a gym, there really aren't a ton of good ones out there, but CAC is an outlier.

The gym itself is great. My one star review is for the employees. My gym membership was randomly…read morecanceled by an employee named Heather. Called the gym to find out what the issue was. Another employee named Connor said he would investigate and talk to Heather. Well that investigation was fairly quick. Connor emailed me back immediately stating that my membership was "mistakenly" canceled by Heather. Who mistakenly cancels a gym membership?? What a poor excuse, Connor. And supposedly my card on file was not valid for the month of January 2026. But the same card was valid all of 2024 and 2025 and they sure took my money. I decided to spend my money else where. Do better guys, your poor excuses can lose a lot of customers.

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Gorgeous locker rooms
Gorgeous locker rooms
Spin studio 38 bikes!
Spin studio 38 bikes!
Welcome to LSAC

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Welcome to LSAC

Big Blue Swim School - swimminglessons - Updated July 2026

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