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.

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!

Celeste is an amazing coach! I have been working with her for few weeks now and she was able to…read morequickly adapt to my requirements and learning style. Since my goal was an ironman I was looking for a coach for open water swimming and was happy to teach me in the lake. She is super easy going and was able to make me feel comfortable pretty quickly. Her focus on technique has been very helpful in getting my basics right before we started touching onto endurance building. We are also able to adjust our schedules if needed if work or life gets in the way without any hassle! Overall I'd definitely recommend Squid swimming!

Terrible service. Unresponsive to emails and cancelled coaching session 10 minutes prior to start…read moreof session with unacceptable excuse. She may be a good swim coach but a terrible business "professional".

My instructor Jake was amazing! Patient and encouraging. I would definitely recommend this swim…read moreschool.

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.

We've been going to Goldfish for a couple months now for our 3 year old we love it!! The teacher is…read morereally good with our daughter. We were nervous at first because we sit in a different area during the class and although she can see us, we were nervous she would be upset, but they made her feel at ease. The employees at this location are great. When I first signed up I had to call because we weren't quite at the age threshold to get into the class. The person I spoke with on the phone was super nice and helpful. Would totally recommend!!!

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 tried group swimming lessons before joining McDonald Swim School, and we're so glad we made the…read moreswitch. Our kids were able to get much more one-on-one attention and make progress much faster instead of spending so much time waiting around. My son recently graduated from Level 6 after a couple of years with McDonald Swim School. We've also been really lucky with our instructors. Sarah was amazing before she left, and Robyn has been so awesome with the kids. They do such a great job of keeping lessons fun while still helping the kids learn and improve. Our kids look forward to swim lessons and we are so happy to be with McDonald Swim School!

Our kids have really progressed with the lessons here, the one on one has been really nice for…read moretheir progression

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 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.

I swam for the Innis Arden youth swim team for 12 years approximately 1999-2010. Though my family…read morehad a pool membership before that time range as well and I worked at the pool until 2012. I also took part in youth water polo off and on. I started working here in Spring 2007 when I was 14 years old and worked here until August 2012, amounting to a little under 6 years, taking on various roles. Working at a pool while also using it for lap swim, rentals, open (recreation) swim, swim team, and water polo provides a well-rounded view of the pool setting. I went from cleaner to lifeguard and swim instructor to senior lifeguard and swim instructor to assistant swim coach and swim instructor. Being a cleaner, yes we even got to clean the locker rooms and wash the floors and scrub the toilets, was an eye opening experience as to the daily upkeep required in the operations and maintenance of a pool. Lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons here were more relaxed than the other pools I worked at (The Dale Turner Family YMCA and Evans Pool for the City of Seattle) and it is not one of the pools I made a rescue at. From a lifeguard perspective that is truly a testament to how well run/operated the pool is. Typically the pool is seasonal, opening in late Spring and closing closer to the end of Summer. However, this year the pool it trying some things out and expanding its open dates for lap swimming and hosting a high school swim team and a club swim team for their practices. Fun to drive past the pool in February and still see people in the pool. Fortunately Innis Arden pool is a heated pool, so even if the weather is 30 or 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside the pool remains a comparatively balmy 79-85 degrees. I have swam in non-heated pools in 30 and 40 degree weather and that is a brutal experience and takes a toll on my system. So relish the comparative luxury of a heated pool! I love the pool layout, though I cannot speak of the locker rooms/office as they have been remodeled since I worked here and my family has chosen to go without a pool membership for about a decade. Locker rooms and the office are located between the fenced pool deck and a grassy field. A parking lot extends one length and end of the pool. On the side of the pool opposite to the parking lot is the Innis Arden Clubhouse which can be used for swim-related events on occasion. The pool deck is a couple to a few inches taller than the pool water level and has a coarse-grained texture which is perfect for preventing slippage on deck especially when one is dripping wet. There was a rickety slide and a diving board when we still had a membership. When people weren't using the slide it was fun to see how long we could last with our heads under the water cascading down and off the slide. Cold water ran to coat the slide so that when we used the slide we did not get stuck to it sliding down, no swimsuit wedgie is good with me :).