I'm really surprised to read the other reviews that talk about the scheduling issues. We haven't run into that at all. We have been going to the Gold's Gym Bandera location since the start of the year. Prior to that we had been going to Aquatots but when my husband saw the Groupon we couldn't resist the savings. I figured we would go to SASA for the semester and then go back to Aquatots when the Groupon ran out. After experiencing the difference, though, we never looked back. I have been recommending SASA to all my friends. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. When we started my 4 year old could swim maybe 6 feet and my 2 year old could put his face in and blow bubbles. Now my 4 year old can swim the length of the pool unassisted, both on her back and on her stomach. My 2 year old can swim 6 - 10 feet on his stomach and he can do the back float unassisted. He is working on rolling over from front to back and back to front. Most importantly, though, both kids love going! The two instructors we have, Mr. James and Coach Steven are just so great with the kids! When we first started my 2 year old had some separation anxiety because he wasn't used to getting in the pool without me. He screamed most of the time for about 3 classes, but it didn't faze Mr. James in the least. He just gently guided my son through the lessons. Eventually his songs and toys won my son over and now he can't wait to go to class. Couch Steven is equally great with my 4 year old daughter. He seems to have the perfect balance of work and fun. He definitely does not baby the kids - they WORK! But they also love to do it. The things I love about SASA v. Aquatots: 1. Much less crowded. My 2 year old is in a class of 3 and my 4 year old is often the only student but sometimes there is one other child with her. There are only two classes going on in the pool at any given time. There are plenty of places for the parents to sit. At Aquatots you had to stake your claim for a chair by the window or you wouldn't have one. Then it was a mad rush for the changing rooms with everyone trying to reserve a changing room so that when all those kids come out at once you have a place to change. 2. You can hear and see what is going on. Instead of sitting behind glass you get to sit right next to the pool and you can hear what is being said. 3. I didn't have to get into the water with my 2 year old. It was nice to sit and watch instead of doing all the work of getting in and out of your swimsuit for just 30 minutes of swim time. 4. It's cheaper. It is a lot less expensive, even without the Groupon. At first I was thinking I wouldn't like SASA's policy of no makeup classes. The reality is that it has caused me to take missing classes a lot more seriously, and we just don't miss classes. At Aquatots I would miss classes a lot, but I had a hard time making them up and ended up forfeiting them anyway. 5. The pool is bigger. I didn't think my daughter would need a bigger pool this soon, but she uses the whole length of it. At Aquatots she would only have a small rectangle to work in. 6. You can use the Gold's Gym towels. This doesn't seem like a big deal but it is nice not to have to remember your own. When we first started going we changed in the ladies dressing room, which was awesome and I listed that as a major benefit SASA had over Aquatots. Now, though, I've been told that Gold's does not want us using the locker rooms so we must use the rest room in the child care center. It would be nicer if we didn't have to do that. In the summer time I just take the kids home in their swimsuits. 7. Both my kids have progressed faster. I'm really amazed at how fast the kids have learned while at SASA. What Aquatots has over SASA: 1. The Gold's Gym pool is cold in the winter. There are big windows in the room so the it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The kids spend part of each lesson sitting on the side and watching what is going on and they often shiver. I bought both kids wet suits to combat this problem. 2. They have a play area for the kids who aren't swimming. This isn't a big deal for me now that I have both kids swimming at the same time. read more

Our daughter is 9-years old now and she has been with the SASA for 8-years. Her development with the SASA has been excellent especially considering we don't have a pool at home. Our original goal was for her to learn how to swim (freestyle) over a few seasons and then leave; however, once she began the curriculum established by SASA we continued with the program. It's been outstanding to see her develop her swimming skills (freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, & breaststroke), which led to her trying out and making the SASA swim team last year. Her confidence with the swim team has spilled over with her schools volleyball and softball team. Ray read more

I wanted to give San Antonio Swim Academy zero stars but was required to select at least one to leave a review. Please save yourself the trouble and heartache and go somewhere else. I paid for my daughters class in full upon registering, but due to a need to reschedule that was 100% on San Antonio Swim Academy, I requested a full refund of the program tuition. The timeline below details the events I've been dealing with. 4/28: Registered for summer II MW 530p class via phone 6/6: Attended our first class. Class began late and ended on time 6/8: Received a phone call and voicemail at 12:55p (4 1/2 hours before class was to begin) informing us that class that day (to be our second class) was cancelled. She asked that I return the call to reschedule for another time and date. 6/8: At 1:05p I returned the call to reschedule the class. No one answered but I got the automated recording saying my call would be returned in the order it was received. My call was never returned 6/13: At 12:23p I received a call 5 hours before class saying that it was cancelled and San Antonio Swim Academy had to reschedule the entire session because one of their instructors, who has more classes and students than our instructor, took an unplanned vacation. As a result, our instructor needed to cover her classes. I told SASA that due to vacation and my husband's work schedule no other session worked and I'd like a full refund. She agreed and said she'd fill out a client issue form and I'd hear back in 48 hours. I never heard back. 6/15: I received a call from our swim instructor during the scheduled class time asking where we were. I explained the situation to him, he offered for us to make up classes on a one-off basis and I explained why that wouldn't work. He told me I should hear back from the registration specialists the following day regarding our client issue form, which at this point, had been "in process" for over the specified 48 hours. 6/18: At 13:30, my husband called and left voicemail to follow up. No one returned this call. 6/20: At 13:00, my husband called and left voicemail to follow up. No one returned this call. 6/21: At 9am I called to follow up on our client issue form since it had been 8 days. I spoke to the registration specialist again who said the manager would be in to the office in 30 minutes and she'd speak to her and call me back by noon with an answer. I was never called back. 6/22: At 12:20, my husband called and spoke with customer service. He explained the situation again and was told that the owners are on vacation and will not reply until July 5th. He was also informed that no one can process a refund until then. The woman that he spoke to said she would provide the owners email to us via email so that we could reach out directly. She confirmed that she had my correct email; however, we never received an email. 6/23: At 23:18 I emailed SASA with the above timeline of events and said if I didn't hear back by morning I'd be contacting my bank about the charge. 6/24: I received a phone call first thing in the morning saying they'd received my email and would issue a full refund on 7/5 7/6: I called to see if my refund had been issued the day before but no one answered. My call was never returned. Later that day I sent an email requesting confirmation of my refund. My email never received a reply. 7/8: Called my bank and opened an investigation into the charge since I never received the services. 7/13 (the day I'm writing this review): 11am, called SASA for an update on the refund. My call was not answered so I left a voicemail. So far, we have not heard back. read more

We had just moved to San Antonio and we found a Groupon to SASA and decided to give them a try at the Universal City location. Even with the Groupon it was very expensive for the type of class. They are supposed to have small classes, however, several times there were 5-8 Children in a 30 minute session. My daughters ended up being in the water about 4 minutes total. Didn't learn anything new. I tried to contact the offices but didn't hear back from them. They finally called me back but only to remind me to enroll my children again. No way we are going back! read more

Great instructor but very poor lesson makeup process, twice we had to take our child out of school early for a makeup lesson and come to find the instructor never showed up. So we're still out two lessons and a non-refundable $50 deposit for the spring session on account we decided not to continue our child with this program. read more

Someone finally called me back (24 hours later) it was the owners wife. She was very apologetic and reassuring, she rescheduled my class that was cancelled and added on another free class for all the inconvenience. Our first class is tomorrow. I'm hoping everyone shows up for the classes we have scheduled. read more

I had a terrible experience with the San Antonio Swim Academy. I had one child in a class which ended up being cancelled because the instructor quit after only two classes. They found him another class, but did not refund the class that was cancelled in between. I also had two other children in Mr James classes and he did not show up for three classes in a row. They only had a substitute instructor for one of the classes. Again, they refused to refund my money for the four classes that their "Top Notch" instructor failed to show up for and then ignored my several emails and calls to try and get my money back. They would only give credit towards another class, but we did not want to continue going to classes after so many had been cancelled. We also only received less than a days notice that these classes were cancelled. read more

We absolutely appreciate Mr. James's (Bandera Pointe) continuous excellent coaching. My daughter joined our neighborhood swim team for the first time this Summer and is excelling on her meets. Most importantly, she continues to show enjoyment for swimming and gain in confidence during competition. Mr. James is a valuable asset to SASA and remains the reason for furthering our annual membership. Kudos also goes to SASA staff for improved communication. read more

Parents BEWARE!!! These people will take your money and provide Really Bad Service (If Any), they always have excuses for not being able to teach, but they will NOT refund you your payment. Some of the Teachers don't have patience to be teaching preschoolers; and will dunk your child into the water if they refuse go underwater. I have tried to get in touch with SASA by e-mail and have left voice messages, and they have not returned my phone calls nor replied to my e-mails. Its sad how we have watched SASA decline in the way they do business. Save your money and take your child somewhere else. Here is an example of some of the excuses they will give you: "Something came up at work and my boss needs me to stay till 9pm tonight. I have to cancel again. I am soooo sorry. " "I have a very back migraine today. I am going to have to cancel the private lesson. I'm sorry, Mrs. Arechiga." -Z read more

I love that my girl is only one on her class so she gets all the attention. My son loves his class and waits for it every week.

Began in spring, followed through to summer. Just completed w/James-he was good. The rule for makeups is unforgiving cause sometimes things happen out side one's control, can't be avoided. She was already a good swimmer but he helped her through some tough hurdles. Although not sure what level she should exactly be in and not sure if they know either, but overall was ok for her lessons. Huge negative is their location due to construction - but not their fault (Bandera Pointe). read more

They changed the place just few hours ago before starting lessons. New place is so far away from home so i wanted to cancel lessons. She said she will give me a full refund. But week after week i didn't get anything so called them several times...no answers.. sent them emails...but no answers.. So i called my credit card company and they also tried to call them but no one answered. Anyway i got the money back from my credit card company NOT FROM SAN ANTONIO SWIM ACADEMY. THEY DON'T EVEN DESERVE ONE STAR !!! read more

San Antonio Swim Academy wholly failed to meet fulfil their obligations to my children. San Antonio Swim Academy is unreliable. They accepted their very expensive fees, but cancelled sooooo many lessons on such short notice. They promised to rescheduled those many cancelled lesson, but did not. Despite San Antonio Swim Academy's continued short-noticed cancellation of many of our lessons, we attempted in good faith to reschedule to no avail. Then we continued to attempt to reach an amicable resolution regarding reimbursement of the many cancelled swim lesson, again ignored by management and the owners. We never even met our assigned instructor, the few lessons we took the children always had a "sub". I will say that one substitute, Steve, was very good with our children. Unfortunately, we were only assigned to Steve for one lesson. Again, we never actually met our assigned instructor. Having continued substitute swim teachers each week, does not build confidence with children. San Antonio Swim Academy has a poor habit of returning phone calls and email mesages as well. The cancellations often would come by way of text on the way to the swim lesson children already in their swimsuit and expecting a swim lesson. Incredibly disheartening to explain cancellations to the children. read more

I was hoping the online reviews of switched locations and last minute canceled lessons were wrong but that is not the case. I tried in earnest to give this place a chance as we dealt with last minute cancels and new instructors mid-season but the final straw was completely discontinuing lessons at the location we had signed up at and then failing to make it right. They refused to offer me a refund for the last two classes that each of my children had had canceled. When I tried to contact them through messages at the office as well as several emails, no response. I finally got a hold of an actual person and filed a complaint and asked to have management call me back. I was told it would be 5-7 business days. We are well past that now and no call! Do not give your money to this company! They have a complete lack of concern for the customer and this type of non-responsiveness is just totally unacceptable and unprofessional! read more

Signed up for the spring lesson. Five students sharing one lane. Total of 6 laps (2 freestyles, 2 backstrokes, 2 breast strokes) for a 30 minute session that costs $18 per class. Just researched other businesses, $20 for semiprivate (2 person per session). Not what I expected. read more

We've done their Summer swim program for two years now. We will not be returning. Constant confusion, instructors change all the time, nobody knows which kids are supposed to be in which class, they forget to cancel and then when you show up they say they called you when they never did, and they can never seem to get the levels right. My son was forced to choose between a very advanced class with a harsh instructor who didn't seem to have any patience for the kids (really, yelling at a bunch of 9-year olds for not having a perfect butterfly?) or a class with kids who couldn't even swim independently for 1/2 a length of a pool. They couldn't find a class with other kids who just needed help strengthening their free style swimming laps. My daughter has been working on the same skills for two summers now and not progressing. It seems to be run by a bunch of teenagers home from college who just want an hourly wage and aren't interested in really developing the kids or running a good program. read more

The instructor was great with my children, but he had a hard time with coordinating schedules. He totally stood us up, tried to reschedule, still couldn't manage to teach at the times he promised. Very disappointed considering the amount of money this cost! read more

I am so glad that San Antonio Swim Academy has been helpful in reaching our goals!

We have had 2 children with SASA...one in lessons & one on the Sharks Swim Team. Lessons with Mr. James were awesome! He is firm & caring...and very knowledgeable about swimming. My oldest son has been with the Sharks for just about 1 year. He went from not wanting to even tryout for swim team to always wanting to be the first one there...waiting for practice to start! Coach Dean is a true master of his craft. He expects a lot of his swimmers & they respond to him...in strides. My son wouldn't want to swim anywhere else!!! Our family is proud to be part of the Shark Nation. read more

My son just completed his first season. He started attending classes at 6 months he's now 10 months old. We have seen a huge improvement in both his gross and fine motor skills as well as his progression in swimming. Based upon our experience we have decided to sign him up for the year round swim program. Coach James is amazing! He is passionate and a professional. Would highly recommend!!! read more

This is the 2nd session that my kids have attended. They have learned a lot and can now swim the length of the pool 10 times. I am very Happy with how my kids have learned so much. The Coaches are great instructors. They give one on one attention. Coach James is a great Instructor and shows lots of enthusiasm in his coaching as well as positivity and always encourages the kids. My kids really enjoy attended lessons each week. The only thing I was not pleased about was that there is no make up days. read more

The San Antonio Swim Academy has extremely helped my 2 boys throughout the years. Great instructors, they definitely know what they're doing. I've been taking my two boys for the past 2 summers and they love it! Completely recommend this academy for kids who are willing to learn new swimming techniques. read more

My son has been taking lessons at the Roger's Ranch location in Gold's Gym. He is six years old. Two weeks ago, he was afraid to go in the deep end and now he is swimming the length of the pool. We have had a fabulous experience with his swim lessons! read more

SASA MAKES PROMISES AND DOESN'T DELIVER. Informed them of my geographic limitations and they signed me up anyway, took my money, then shut down the location. They don't return calls or e-mails. Please DO NOT waste your money... burn it instead. read more

I'm glad I didn't read these comments before or I wouldn't have signed my girls up for lessons here and missed out on some good swim lessons. The instructor is so awesome with the kids and very punctual. I'm very happy with the lessons and both my girls are loving it and learning fast. I would definitely recommend to others. read more

PLEASE TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE. I enrolled my kid for the summer session. We were very excited. Her first class was with an awesome coach. Sadly every class thereafter was a different instructor every time. They also cancelled two classes to which they mentioned there will be a make up class. They never made up any classes like they said they would. In addition one of the substitute instructors was horrible. Not only was she constantly looking at the clock waiting for the time to be over, she wasn't at all friendly to the children. She forced another little girl to jump in the water when she wasn't ready. That little girl was terrified but jumped in out of pressure. The girl immediately sank to the bottom and her face was terrified from the incident. That's a horrible way to get a child to love water. I spoke with someone nicely letting them know my concerns. They pretentiously said they would handle the situation only to send yet another substitute teacher. Finally I told them I just want a pro-rated refund for the remaining classes since there's no use to have my daughter attend. Every class new instructor which never knew where the last instructor left off. Every instructor went back to blowing bubbles and superman arms. It was an TERRIBLE experience. Please take your business to somewhere like Aqua Tots. I heard great things about them. read more

Go somewhere else for swim lessons. This place doesn't have any organization and for some reason, can't keep instructors. I have actually asked for a refund because of cancelled classes that accounted for half the season. They offered a free "next session" to make up for it (this after pulling teeth to talk to anyone for make up classes to begin with) and started cancelling classes once the "make-up" session began. I asked for a refund and I was told the owner would contact me once he reviewed the concern and he hasn't gotten back to me yet (it's been 3 weeks). Not that I am surprised. They are just waiting me out to see if I will give up and let them keep my money. I started my daughter in lessons back in August, they messed up from the beginning and when I tried to call for the various issues, nobody ever answered the phone- or it took me emailing two or more times to get any response at all. This is the least professional, joke of a business I have ever encountered. I am taking steps to get my money back- possibly filing small claims, definitely filing a police report, communicating with BBB, and contacting a local news station for some publicity. They stole money and can't even afford to pay back what they owe. Avoid them at all costs. You will just be disappointed. I never review companies (good or bad) and downloaded Yelp just to be sure I could tell people my experience with them. read more