Goldfish Swim School
- Gowanus
620 Degraw St, Brooklyn 11217, NY
See Map | Get Directions - goldfishswimschool.com
Reviews (26)
Swim lessons for nervy 5 year old
We're also relatively new to the area and somehow snagged a spot of Goldfish in Gowanus. It's amazing because it's geared towards kids, so the pool is warm, and the teachers are so kind and patient. My 4 year old is so anxious- she still won't dunk or blow bubbles. I hate wasting money but my spot is too valuable to give up. A++++. Try a drop in.Review from the Spring 2024 Afterschool Survey
Program: Junior 1 Age: 4 Types of Program Swimming lessons Review My child is thriving at Goldfish Swim School. It is a clean, bright facility with patient, warm and proficient instructors. He is in a small class and learning basic swimming skills. Skills Learned Basic swimming skills Changes I wish it was easier to get into -- it took a while for us to get a weekend spot.Re: Goldfish Swimforce experience?
My kids did swim force for a couple of years. I really saw their skills and stamina grow tremendously having that hour a week. Highly recommend!Re: Goldfish Swimforce experience?
my kid (8.5) has been on the swim force for more than a year now. The classes are for an hour later in the evening 7-8pm. The kids are trained to swim the full length of the pool. So it’s helpful in building stamina and work on their different strokes. Having said that it’s only once a week. My child has enjoyed the classes so far. From time to time they will do swim meets which are timed races that the kids can sign up for. Overall it’s a good experience to build stamina & confidence in the pool.Swim classes for 4yo with no experience
We have been very happy with Goldfish (Gowanus) for both our boys (11 and 8). Both have progressed very well. Staff is welcoming and patient from our experience so far.ISO Swimming Lesson Feedback
My almost 5 yr old daughter has largely enjoyed Goldfish in Gowanus. As a former swim instructor, I was really impressed by how thoughtfully the facilities were designed for children (ledge so children can sit in the pool + really warm pool = no more purple lips). I'd definitely describe them as clean and modern. The instructors have been relatively consistent, and she's liked most of hers. Our biggest challenges have been when our daughter moved up a level and had to acclimate to a new faces. Lately, I've been really impressed by how helpful & kind her instructors are as she's doing scarier things (swimming all the way across the pool & makeup lessons with unfamiliar instructors). I'm not sure it's the absolute best in swimming instruction, but she's definitely learning to swim and the convenience can't be beat for us.ISO toddler swim class recs
We have been taking our 4 year old son to Goldfish Swim School in Gowanus since he was 2. They are great! But the price is not much cheaper than $50/class, and parking in the area can be a nightmare.Swimming lessons?
Goldfish by far has the warmest water (like hot tub) and both of my kids have been going there for almost 3 years now. That said, Goldfish recently established a waitlist program and you can now sign up for multiple waitlists at the same time. That’s been a game changer for us and we’ve been able to move around amongst weekend classes quite easily. I’d say within a month you can probably get into at least 1 Sunday/Saturn class. Highly recommend there!Swimming lessons?
We’re at Goldfish in Gowanus, and we’re digging it so far. It is WARM, so your kiddo will have zero issue there, ha! We also found it was pretty reasonable cost-wise; some of the other spots are pretty pricey. We have a weekday class, so it was a bit easier to get in… weekends seem pretty tough to book, but not impossible. It’s a rolling admission, so folks seem to come and go, plus once kids “graduate” among levels spots open.4 year old swim recommendations
Highly recommend Goldfish! But it is hard to find a spot.Swim Advice Needed... YMCA 9th St Understaffed
Both of our kids take lessons in goldfish and love it. Class size is 4 kids per instructor. It was hard to get in but found if you call and check with them, they are usually able to look ahead and find openings. We had to wait a few weeks after booking for our classes to open up and start. The online booking on their website doesn't look ahead.Swim Advice Needed... YMCA 9th St Understaffed
We eventually moved on and decided to make swimming for the kids an investment and have been spending more money for lessons. And it’s paid dividends! Over the past year my daughter has advanced 4 levels in her current swim school (Goldfish swim in Gowanus) and is now swimming the full length of the pool in both freestyle and backstroke (she’s 5yo). But more importantly, she knows how to get herself out of trouble in the water. That said, there are lots of other swim options in Brooklyn for our children so I suggest doing some research. Yes, they are more costly, but my daughter is swimming and knows how to be safe in the water and because of that it’s been worth the extra cost.Swimming class?
I would second Goldfish being a great experience, warm pool and lots of changing rooms. They don’t operate on semesters, instead once you’re in a class you stay in that time slot until you leave.Swimming class?
We do Goldfish swim school. Tough to get in at first, but once we got in, it has been a great experience.Swimming Lessons for toddlers?
We’ve been at Goldfish since it opened up, and really love it! Someone asked about the water temp: it’s somewhere around 90 degrees, and feels like a nice warm bath! The instructors are great, and the class very gentle. It can be noisy on busy days, but never too much of a problem!Swimming Lessons for toddlers?
Temp is very warm at Goldfish! Almost like bath water warm. I brought something like a baby wetsuit incase it was chilly, but took it off my kiddo as soon as we got in the pool.Swimming Lessons for toddlers?
+1 to Goldfish! Our kiddo started taking lessons there last winter and is absolutely loving it. The facility is incredibly clean and they're taking all the appropriate covid precautions (adults must be vaccinated, they provide plastic shields for parents to use in the water, etc). FYI--it is impossible to schedule a class online because they're always booked, so we ended up calling every week to snag a drop-in class until there was an opening for their perpetual lessons.Swimming Lessons for toddlers?
My older kid is at Goldfish and we love it. It can be hard to get a spot, though.Swimming Lessons for toddlers?
Our 2 year old daughter just started lessons at Goldfish swim school in Gowanus and loves it!Swimming Lessons
We go to Goldfish swim school on degrade street and we love it. Convenient and they have great covid protocols in placeswimming lessons this spring?
Our 3 yr old has been taking swimming lessons at Goldfish Swim in Gowanus for a few months. We really like it. I don't know if they do private lessons but her class size is very small 3-4 kids per class. Their payment and make-up system is a little annoying but once you figure it out it's fine.GoldFish Swim Payment System
We're also at Goldfish and very happy, though I understand the frustration. I'll second they are responsive, I had emailed about a payment concern as well when we first started and they were very quick to respond. I think a big part of their cancellation policy, unlike other swim programs which usually enroll say 12-week programs, is that their selling "year round swim skills" as their differentiator, rather than the idea that a child takes a class, then moves on because they've "learned to swim." I'm not saying I agree, just that they are really not intending for people to register for 1-2 months only, which is likely part of the reason why it's difficult to do so. My daughter is very young and we have done both the short-term YMCA classes and now Goldfish and I can say, Goldfish is leaps and bounds better at actually "teaching" vs. just getting kids in the water so they are used to it. I can't speak to older children and whether their is a notable difference between Goldfish and other programs.GoldFish Swim Payment System
Our son is happy at Goldfish swim school. I've found them very responsive by email (even on weekends) with any changes needed or questions. Personally I think a 1-month notice for cancellation is fair - they need to plan ahead for their facility, trainers, even other parents. They are keeping classes very small and so each cancelled participant is a big loss for them which they would need to open up to others. Some places require you to pay several months in advance and you can't cancel that payment..Anyone currently attending Goldfish swim?
We have been attending the Junior 1 class on the weekends for the past 4 weeks. They have a lot of precautions in place with temp checks at the doors, only one parent allowed inside, arrows so you keep distance and all employees/teachers wearing masks and face shields. The classes are each in a lane of the pool and have 4 max kids with 2 kids distanced while they sit on the edge of the pool and then a plastic shield between the other 2 distances kids. While the teachers bring the kids in the pool they are closer than 6 feet,4 but still not super close and with the face shield. The parents wear masks at all times and kids wear masks everywhere except in the pool and parents have seating 6 feet apart inside or you can watch from the window outside. The classes are 30 minutes and you arrive 5 minutes before your class so it feels very fast, which helps me reconcile how much exposure there is. Totally a personal decision though and will get more difficult as the overall % of the neighborhood increases.Anyone currently attending Goldfish swim?
We signed up back before they opened, over a year ago, and got a full year of lessons with the membership. After much handwringing when they opened we started Henry (3) with lessons. They are very nicely distanced from other kids, with little screens on the sides of the pool. Instructors wear face shields. We went for 3 or 4 weeks then the positivity rate of the virus just shot back up (with even Park Slope over 2%!), so we’ve been using our excused absences to get us through the next few weeks. We have a fairly low tolerance for any extra virus exposure because Henry is in preschool and I’m an anesthesiologist. But Goldfish was being the most responsible they could be with regard to virus spread - so it’ll be the first thing to add back in.ISO: infant swim class / recommendations
My friends love Goldfish. The BK location is supposed to open soon in Gowanus.
