The instructors are great, the pace is perfect for a beginner--i do not feel like I am being rushed to the next step until I thorougly get the first step. I love the flexibility that CBD offers, I was able to make up a class with no difficulty. When you call with any concern, there are assistants that help walk you through whether it's a billing issue or to discuss making up a class. I found CBD off of reviews and feel it's only right to share what I have experienced so far. Very appreciative of the instructors patience and will to make sure everyone gets EVERY step, EACH class. read more

My son began swim lessons here at 6 months old. We noticed how much he loved bath time and wanted to encourage him. He now loves the pool, and is extremely comfortable in the water. Additionally, it is a great opportunity for parent-child bonding. I have been very impressed with both the swim coaches and customer service staff who make changing days/times a hassle free process. In particular, coaches Natalie and Alex have been great with my son in the pool. They are always friendly, encouraging, and energetic. Swim class is definitely one of the highlights of our week. In terms of the facilities, there are plenty of showers, changing tables, etc. In short, if you are considering a new activity for your child, I would definitely give CBD a shot. read more

Chicago Blue Dolphins offers both longer and drop-off lesson options for kids. It's quite a bit less crowded than other swim schools. We've done both Goldfish and Foss. With Goldfish, I tried multiple times to coordinate private or semi-private lessons with no success. Also, with 1/2 hour class of four students, kids only get 7 minutes of swimming by the time you add in instruction. Foss was too focused on safety (for my child who was already swimming quite well) rather than combining water safety info with swim skills. For us, CBD is the best option in the city! read more

Coach Fitz is patient, knowledgeable and encouraging. His understanding of the Total Immersion technique and his ability to disseminate the information is superb! I would highly recommend CBD! read more

My children have taken swim lessons at many places and this one is just alright. The space is small and the locker rooms are not acceptable if you are trying to teach your child about privacy. The teachers are fine-hit or miss. I suggest you keep looking. read more

The instructor was very welcoming and the class size is small. The pool is of sufficient size to teach toddlers and most importantly, the pool is a temperature that isn't off putting or detracts from the lesson. It was an enjoyable experience! read more

I am taking private adult lessons and have learned more in three lessons than I had over the course of 40 years. The attention to each detail of the swim style is explained and tried. I'm in it for the long run. read more

My five year old daughter had a lesson with Kordian. He is outstanding with skill development, patience, and he makes swimming fun for her. I have been very impressed with quality of instruction at CBD. read more

John Fitzpatrick gave my son his first lesson this past week. I really liked the little tricks he used to modify my son's technique. It is very important for me to use the time effectively and efficiently which he did achieve because it is not easy to keep my son focused. I do recommend CBD to other swim lovers. We also took lessons with Kyle who was also a great instructor. They both communicated really well via email and follow up after each practice to ensure and emphasize the main points of the given lesson. read more

My wife and I have taken our son to CBD for the past 2 years. We had him in group lessons and have recently signed him up for private lessons. We had our first one last week and he loved it!! Coach Erin set rules immediately and explained how the class was going to proceed. He followed the rules and enjoyed himself very much. I highly recommend CBD for swim lessons. read more

The Chicago Blue Dolphin program is a great faciity for adults or children. A major SPLASH!

UPDATE: I was given a full refund for the botched lesson. We are finishing up our series of lessons but will not continue once they are done. There seem to be discrepancies in the schedules of the office, facilities, and instructors. The UIC small pool has been busy both times we've been there and today, my son was in the big pool at the same time a meet was taking place. Luckily he did just fine. ------------------------------------------------------ My 8 year old son has been taking private lessons at a condo downtown over the past two summers. The instructor is wonderful -- very patient and positive and goes at the child's pace which was perfect for my son who had a huge fear of the water. Unfortunately, she is totally booked during the school year and my son is on the waiting list. I tried having him take group lessons through the park district but he does not do well in that kind of environment -- basically controlled chaos. Then I stumbled onto CBD while searching the internet. Spoke with CJ at the office and signed my son up for 5 lessons. After a huge struggle with my son right before the 1st lesson at UIC with Kordian, we got him there and into the pool and he did fine. He can do very basic freestyle and just really needs to build up his confidence. Kordian was great and we were looking forward to meeting Krista today. My son was coming up with excuses again to not go. But we got there on time and it turned out that Krista had just left the facility at Swift to go to her other job. They called her back and she apologized but there was no way she could teach my son then. CJ happened to be there as well and apologized as well as offering a refund. That's all fine and dandy but we were already there and no one was trying to somehow get my son into the pool for a lesson TODAY. I expressed my displeasure and we left. On the way home, I shot off an email complaining about my experience. I know for a fact that the instructors get their schedules in advance because the one for our lesson on 11/24 emailed me and asked if we could possibly reschedule to the following day because he is going to be out of town. I agreed because we'll be available that day. So that instructor (Kyle) went ahead and cancelled the 11/24 lesson and scheduled the 11/25 lesson for me. I am impressed with his professionalism which is why I think we will go ahead with the rest of my son's lessons with CBD. I may come back and update this review once our series of lessons are done. I don't know, though. Still very annoyed by today's unprofessionalism. read more

Awesome coaches. I usually sign up for the 5-pack of 25min sessions. It's one-on-one instant feedback and instant results. I usually take 2-3 things to work on during the week. Rinse and repeat. Definitely getting faster in the pool. read more

Super laid back. Was able to take my goals and help identify a plan forward.

Great class availability and staff. The pricing is very competitive vs. many other city swim schools.

Great Place. We've used Blue Dolphins for both Adult and Child swim classes and have been very happy with both. Coach Fitz is a phenomenal instructor who teaches the Total Immersion philosophy very effectively. The Child class does a very nice job of getting the kids comfortable with the water and excited about learning to swim. read more

Really bad service. Our boys were asked to move up a level and were put on a waiting list to move up a level after our first lesson. Five months later, we are still waiting for the call they promised. The only thing mgmt. was clear about was about their no refund policy. I do not recommend this place. read more

We took my 19 month old here for her first time swimming and she LOVED it! The teacher made us feel comfortable right away. The Elston location is setup well if you have another parent or grandparents that want to come watch/take pictures. read more

Started at the CBD swim facility with Freestyle I - did that for about four or five months and now am doing the Fast Forward classes/workout/training sessions on Sunday mornings. I have been swimming for fitness for over 30 years. Have tried a lot of stuff to improve technique including individual swim lessons. But only with Chicago Blue Dolphins has my swimming actually improved. Average stroke count before CBD per 20 yards - around 18-19. Now average stroke count is around 15-16 per 20 yards and approaching 12-13. I highly recommend CBD. John and his team are the best. read more

Really great coaches - Elia and Maureen- for my nephew's private lessons. They really are swim whisperers!

The instructors are very patient and encouraging. I almost lost belief I can ever learn to swim but I think I can actually so that in this studio because I'm slowly but steadily learning and then practicing and gaining more confidence. It's important that I learn step by step, and that I'm not hurried. read more

Best place to break all the bad habits you learned in childhood swim classes and become a really good swimmer. I love this place.

My 4 year old takes lessons with Kyle. He has been so patient with our hyper little guy. He seems to be catching on too.

This is a good place to learn, whether at their swim studio or at one of their off-site locations. The instructors are very good, attentive and knowledgable. It helps that they work with kids (I am an adult), which I think makes them very encouraging and patient. I'm still taking lessons at the moment so will write another review when I have mastered more... read more

I thought I knew how to swim...until Erin showed me how to REALLY swim. She was awesome and really helped me get my form up to par. Since Erin's lessons I have competed in an Ironman. While I wasn't able to improve my swim time by much, I did learn to be more confident in the water and learned to swim more efficiently. I recommend CBD to anyone! read more

Nice facility and great setup for a private swimming lesson. There are mirrors on the pool bottom to watch your stroke plus they can film you as you swim then give you feedback. My instructor was Elia and she was very patient and helpful. read more

I am an adult learning to swim and this place is great! Have tried classes at other places and it never worked. I have a wonderful I stricter that has taught me how to float and the butterfly stroke. I would recommend CBD to anyone! read more

Our appointments were always cancelled & rescheduled, even after the studio was remodeled, we still took 3 rounds of semi-private lessons, just because there was no other swimming schools around here. We tolerated it because they would make it up with a free class here & there, but it got to the point that David did not even put us in the schedule not once but TWICE! that was it, I've had it. Never went back, CJ was always nice but not enough to have the children get their hopes up and then get disappointed. read more

My son currently takes lessons with coach Maureen. He has been diagnosed with autism and she does an excellent job being patient and understanding with him. My son loves the water so sometimes he has a hard time listening because he wants to play but he absolutely adores Coach. We have been going to CBD for about 2-3 years off and on. It's the best place for him due to the pool size and personal service. read more

This is a great place to learn how swim. I've taken beginner adult courses at Chicago public parks twice and compared to Chicago Blue dolphins they were a waste of time and money. All of the instructors here have been very good. Particularly Elia and Jason. Elia was able to get me to overcome my fear of swimming on my back. The instructors show you the proper form and are able to correct your mistakes in your swimming form. It's especially hard to know what you are doing wrong since your a beginner and don't know what you are doing so it really helps to actually be taught. The classes I've been to have had a max of 3 students so the time and attention the instructors give you is excellent. The pools you swim in are like big hot tubs that are only 3'3' deep which are no way as intimidating as being in a full size pool. The pools are also warm as opposed to freezing. The beginner courses stress being able to float in the water and don't cover an insane amount of information. The instructors won't keep going to the next thing until they can see you are comfortable with what they just taught you. You won't ever feel like your struggling because the class is going too freaking fast. I can't stress how effective this school is at teaching you how to swim and making you comfortable in the water. I have gone from completely hating swimming to feeling confident in the water and looking forward to swimming. read more

I have been taking my now 5 year old son to CBD for a little over a year. We originally signed up with some friends and created our own class of about 5 kids. There was almost always 2 instructors which was great. My son was afraid of swimming, but the extra warm temp and peer pressure from his friends - along with great instructors - made him turn around. We had a bit of a rough patch when the pool on Elston unexpectedly closed for repairs for most of this summer, but they quickly rebounded with CPS pools and other options. And they were really good about communicating all of it thru email. We have been in the Pre-School 2 class for 4 weeks now at Lakeview HS and my son is the only one in the class. He started taking his first strokes on his own the 2nd week and has been motoring ever since. I HIGHLY recommend these guys for your kids. I only gave 4 stars because of all the craziness with the pools, but once they get their studio back up and running consistently, they'll deserve 5 stars. We tried the YMCA a while ago and the water was too cold and the class sizes too big. CBD may cost more, but in my opinion your child will learn to swim faster. read more