We absolutely love Swim Guru! I love that they focus on survival skills and my 4 year old and two…read moreyear old have legit learned to swim with the beginner package! All the instructors are fantastic!!

We couldn't be more thrilled with our experience at Swim Guru. My 3.5 year old son's skills have…read morejust taken off and he is so much more confident, safe, and having a blast too!

I swam at Wedgwood Swim Club for 12 years as an away swimmer through the Seattle Summer Swim League…read more(SSSL) approximately 1999 to 2010. My Grandad lived in Wedgwood, and my parents, my sister, and I lived in Innis Arden. So it was fun coming to swim here because my Grandad lived near the pool (now my sister owns the house) and would come to see me swim. So Wedgwood has always felt like a home-away-from-home pool to swim at for me. The pool deck stands out in my mind from the other SSSL swim team pools because of its smooth texture. Concessions were well run and locker rooms well maintained during swim meets. The amount of grass/sitting room is good for dual swim meets (two teams competing) but could get very crowded for the end of the season events such as Prelims, Northerns, and All Cities. The tiered grassy area made viewing the pool during races comparatively easy, though the edges of the pool were typically lined with spectators so we didn't always see the end/turns of every race. All around fond memories of swimming here both in terms of family and competitive sporting events.

If there's one thing I always tell young families...or even couples when they move into the View…read moreRidge/Wedgwood neighborhoods of Seattle is to put your name on the wait lists for the local community pools. Now. Had someone given us that advice upon moving into NE Seattle, we might have had an opportunity to get into the View Ridge or Wedgwood Swim Clubs when our children were actually interested in being at the pool during the summer. Unfortunately that was not to happen. When we finally did have kids and finally did think to put our names on the wait list for these swim clubs, we were jarred to learn that the wait was a decade or more. I kid you not. Each spring we would get an update from both swim clubs altering us to our status on their wait list and every year we would look at each other and ask why no one gave us advice to get our names on the lists earlier. The lists moved in an excruciatingly slow manner, sometimes opening up fewer than a dozen new slots a year. In 2009, at the absolute height of the economic depression, we were finally notified by the Wedgwood Swim Club that our family was eligible to join and we were given a week to decide if we wanted to plunk down the $1700 it would cost ($1000 for membership and $700 for dues). Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Spend $1700 that we really didn't have at that point, or lose our slot that we had been waiting on for a decade. Pay now or go back to the end of the line. Ultimately we decided to buck up and join and we really did enjoy that first summer. The weather was great, the kids were still young enough to want to hang out with their parents and, the novelty of belonging to a pool was still fresh. But, by the summer of 2011, our attendance at the pool had dropped precipitously. It took a very long time for summer to actually arrive in 2011 and combined with summer camps and other activities, I estimate that we only used the pool a total of 10 times all summer. That's $70 per swim based upon our $700 dues. Talk about a bad investment! The situation repeated itself in 2012, so when it came time to re-up our membership in 2013, we opted out. Our decade+ long wait to become members was over with a whimper after just four years. Our disappointing run at the Wedgwood Swim Club was not a reflection on the pool or community in any way. It had more to do with crappy summer weather and the fact that our kids were older and interested in other activities by the time we became members. In fact, I only have praise for the Wedgwood Swim Club. First of all, the facility is great. The pool is spacious, clean and warm. The clubhouse can be rented for a low fee for private parties. The locker rooms are clean. The staff, both year round and summer is terrific. The Board of Directors takes their job seriously and is committed to making sure the facility is around for decades to come. Everyone does a great job communicating to the membership. There are BBQ's available for picnicking and there are many community events throughout the summer, from swim meets to pie eating contests. It's really too bad that the Wedgwood pool didn't work out better for my family. Had we known about the wait list and had we become members when our kids were younger, including getting them on the swim team at a young age, we undoubtedly would have gotten more out of the pool. Pro Tip: The Wedgwood Swim Club offers swimming lessons to members and non-members alike throughout the summer. It's a great option for anyone who lives in NE Seattle.

The friendly safe personnel life guards. The cleanliness of the whole area, pool, walks and bath…read moredressing rooms. The sauna is great, too. Plus the have life vest and equipment to share.

I swam and worked at Evans Pool the summer after I graduated high school and during my first two…read moreyears at the University of Washington (2010 to 2012). The pool was kept a good temperature for lap swimming and rec swim. Lap swim would get busy at times, but if well coordinated I could get a swim in before or after my work shift to stay healthy and active. There is a sauna located at the shallow end of the pool and a diving board at the deep end. One of the things I found good weird about this pool was its activity level during the summers. At outdoor pools, summer can get packed. Since Evans Pool is an indoor pool and located right across the walking path from the lifeguarded swimming area at Green Lake, traffic wasn't too bad during the summers. Sure the sun's rays might not be directly overhead, but sometimes it is just nice to get in a swim in a non-overly crowded pool, which can be difficult when sunny and warm in the Seattle area. For that alone, Evans Pool is a stand out in my books.

Multiple negative experiences trying swim lessons here. Do not recommend…read more More details: We arrived 10 minutes early and waited until 3 minutes past the lesson start time. The woman who we learned was Kaylie was standing around on her phone that whole time until she came over and started the lesson late. We filled out your intake forms sharing information about swimming background and goals, but it didn't seem like Kaylie read them, so we rushed to share experience and goals while the student was getting in the water. The lesson itself didn't cover anything new for the student. Kaylie then rushed to end the lesson on time, despite starting over a few minutes late, which is significant for a single 15 minute lesson. The student didn't learn anything and was rushed out of the pool. We understand it was our first time, but feeling stressed about our lesson was starting late and getting shorter than the 15 minutes we paid for was very frustrating. We had similar negative experiences on subsequent attempts to give this place a shot. Do not recommend, especially not Kaylie McRea.

Kiddo has been taking lessons with Lilly for several months and she is great! She's very patient…read moreand has done an amazing job teaching all the safety basics and beyond while keeping it fun. Highly recommend for kiddos who have jitters about learning to swim.

William, the owner, has taken care of my children's swim lessons since 2020. I adore this school…read moreand the teaching style. Clean, organized, friendly facility. My kids are safe in and around water thanks to Goldfish Shoreline.

We LOVE this location! My kids started with swim guru and it was great, but the convenience of this…read morelocation and amenities make it so much better! The team is super helpful and the pool is warm and clean.

My daughter took lessons with them from when she was 4 until 8 years old. The things I really like…read moreabout them: - you pay on a monthly basis and get the time slot you want and keep it as long as you continue to pay. None of that re-enrolling after 10 weeks (or however long other swim programs are) and writing down 3 time slot choices (hoping to get your #1 choice). - group session is maximum of 3 swimmers! - consistent teachers. My daughter had teacher John for almost 2 years before seeing a different teacher. - program director is very receptive of comments. Example: one new teacher talked a lot in the beginning to the point the kids were no longer listening. Explained the situation to the program director and the following week, there was improvement. Short instructions, kids listened well, and ample swim time. My daughter would've stayed with Orca if it weren't for the fact that she wanted to join a swim team and needed that next-level program to improve her endurance and skill set. I always recommend first time swimmers to check out Orca.

Orca Swim School is amazing!!! Have you been reluctant to pursue swimming for whatever reason. Or…read moreseveral reasons? Have other lessons been a poor experience? Me, too. Orca's unique approach to swimming truly is a miracle. I just completed the 8 class beginner course in the Bothell pool. I am amazed they were able to overcome all my years of negative self-talk and experiences and now I am able to hang out comfortably in the deep end of the pool. They dispelled all my misconceptions I had about swimming and myself. Do you want to feel safe and actually enjoy yourself in this new phase of your life? Contact Orca Swim School. I am so glad I did. Truly enlightening.

My 4-year-old loves being in the pool! The Shoreline pool is really clean and the location is so…read moreconvenient for us. We were lucky to snag some training lessons at a lower cost and those were great for my daughter to experience and get used to the location. They're patient and take the time to teach important techniques - my daughter, on the other hand, gets easily distracted and it can be hard for her to focus and listen to directions. Nevertheless, we look forward to scheduling her for more classes! I only wish the classes were longer than 20 minutes.

McDonald swim school was the perfect choice for my son and his best friend to learn how to swim…read moretogether. Not only did they learn how to swim, they created life long memories!

All of my kids have gone to Suzie's --you can't beat the instruction. I really feel like they are…read morelearning great skills

This swim school is the best one around! It's a family owned business and you can tell they really…read morecare about kids and their experience. One of the best things about their pool is that it isn't overly chlorinated. They use a saltwater system. Some pools feel like they have so many chemicals, that you wouldn't want your kids to swim in them. The water is the perfect temperature. The teachers are very knowledgeable and experienced. Everyone is very friendly and the kids are always excited to come back every week. There is a waiting list to even get in here. If you're looking for somewhere to send your kids, this is definitely the place!

My 4-year old daughter has been doing lessons at SwimGuru for over a year now, and I've been so…read moreimpressed with the progress made so far! She went from being deathly afraid of the water to basically becoming a mermaid, requesting longer swim lessons regularly and expressing disappointment when it's not "swim lesson" day. We've taken lessons from a few different coaches, and they've all been excellent with clear communication and knowing how much to challenge her. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting their child to feel more comfortable in the water and more importantly, to obtain and hone valuable self-rescue skills.

My son can swim a whole lap in 9 months. He started 9 months ago at age 5 and now intermittently…read moretakes lessons when there's time. Worth every penny. He recently joins Goldfish swim school for group lessons and he swims with 7 and 8 year old's. I see kids at Goldfish taking 1-2 years to learn what my son learned in 9 months at Swimguru. Glad I spent the money and didn't waste time driving around for to other lessons that only give minimal progress. If you want results and don't like wasting time, then pick Swimguru. My son loves all his coaches. Thank you coach Rhys, Mitch, Emma, and Molly!

I'll start off by sharing a positive experience I had at The Studio Seattle, which was getting to…read morelearn from Hailey Henderson. Hailey is as excellent of an instructor as she is an actor. She clearly loves teaching and is incredibly knowledgeable about acting theory and applications. Hailey has high expectations for her learners and is also deeply compassionate, a perfect combination for creating an effective learning environment. I am immensely grateful to have been able to learn with her. Hailey is the primary instructor for The Studio Seattle, whereas Andrew Tsao is the artistic director and founder. Andrew was going to cover the last several weeks of classes in my Acting Foundations 2 class series, and prior to this he co-taught a class with Hailey. In this class, Andrew had us participate in exercises where we would be improvising interactions with a scene partner. These scenes were meant to be highly realistic- we were playing ourselves and had similar relationships to each other as we do in real life. Our objectives and given circumstances were given to us individually, without our scene partner's (or the class's) knowledge. In one scene, Andrew had one of our male classmates play the role of a sexual predator towards not one, but two of our classmates. When his scene partner responded to his unwanted advances authentically, by attempting to distract the perpetrator and leave, Andrew told her that she was responding incorrectly and that should/would in fact "fight". He also told her that her "avoidance" would be a hindrance to her as an actor. In another scene, part of the given circumstances was that one of my classmates had had an abortion. I followed up with Andrew expressing my concern that not one, but two extremely sensitive topics, particularly for women, were chosen for these exercises. I stated that that the nature of the exercises required us to be ourselves, thereby increasing the level of sensitivity and creating a high potentiality for trauma/re-traumatization. I acknowledged that while actors do work with difficult content, we get to choose and consent to this, which was not an option in this situation (since we did not know our scene partner's backgrounds or objectives). I stated my expectation that content will be more thoughtfully chosen for these exercises moving forward and that learners be made more fully aware of their options. Andrew's initial response acknowledged that he could have been more thoughtful in ensuring everyone was aware that they could opt out of the exercises. He did not address my concerns over the nature of the content itself, other than implying that more experienced actors would have been fine with the content (I have since heard from multiple other acting instructors that this is not at all the case). I responded by saying that I appreciated his effort to improve transparency around opting out of exercises moving forward. I again stated my concern over the content itself, particularly as it relates to women, and expressed skepticism that more experienced actors would have been fine with the content. Overall, I felt like my concerns were dismissed. Andrew responded by disinviting me to continue attending classes at The Studio Seattle. Based on my experience, I'm of the opinion that Andrew Tsao is not interested in feedback as it relates to the safety of his students, particularly women. For this reason, I would caution any woman/female person against taking classes at The Studio Seattle.

I have completed Foundations 1 & 2 at The Studio Seattle and cannot speak highly enough about this…read moreprogram and instructors. Alana's deep understanding of theory and process offers the groundwork to feel comfortable and prepared for the deeper work in Foundations 2, while Aaron has a magical way of balancing thoughtful and respectful lessons with a humility and irreverence that creates a joyful space to learn and try new things. Thank you, Andrew for creating a welcoming, enriching, and intensive space in Seattle.