Update: Looking back 2 years ago when my Maddux (now age 4) took Ms. Cathy's (Catherine) swim class to now on Monday Major (almost 2) will be taking this class at the same age! It is amazing what our children can do if they are just given the right tools. This class has literally been a life saver! On Easter Sunday Maddux was leaning over a pool to fill up a water gun and fell in. I was 10 feet away and of course got up and ran over to him but before I could get there he had already swam to the edge and was pulling himself out. He remembered these skills even 2 years later and wasn't shocked by the cold water. I could not have been more proud of him in that moment and so thankful we had him take this class! If you are considering lessons for your child Ms. Cathy Swim Austin is the only way to go!! The first week is tough but by the second week, they are loving it and the lessons learned are far more valuable than anything! We took our son to Ms Cathy's at just barely 2 years old! Yes, he cried the first couple of days. After that, it was all smiles and all so much fun to him. He loved it so much he wanted to jump in and swim over and over again and would get so excited to go to swim lessons. He now swims all over the pool comfortably and confidently. We will be taking his baby brother next summer. read more

Review I'm not going to say this class worked, because it did not. Out of the nine kids in the class, the only ones successfully able to go across the pool and get themselves out of the water, were two kids, ages 6 and up. None of the other kids could get from the point of entry in the water, to the stairs on their own. In addition, about 25% of the class was still crying on day 5. I don't believe it is success if 80% are being assisted in the water on day 5, and 40% of the class is still screaming. My child included. After being tossed into the pool and submerged under water over and over, it did not "click" for my children. While this class is sold as teaching your kid to survive, and getting themselves out of the pool, there were zero times my two children were able to do so without the teacher's help. While her website states, "some children may need more than one session due to motor skill development," i don't think the majority of our class's inability to grasp this skill was due to their motor skill development. I write this review to encourage parents to think of their child's temperament and previous water experience before signing up. They will be thrown into the water, by you, over and over, and they will be forced to be submerged by the teacher. And they will scream. My children did not take kindly to this. I had to ask my husband to take off work on the second day to assist me in maintaining my sanity in the class. Keeping a positive persona to my children, while enduring screaming all around, while also, being responsible for ensuring my kids exited the pool, was not a one woman job. This is NOT a skills class. The fundamentals of kicking and holding your breath are not covered. It was after my two year old inhaled so much water over and over that she belched repeatedly to the point of almost vomiting, that I realized I needed to do the instruction myself. Maybe that was on me, I'll take that. It was also after Ms. Cathy repeatedly yelled "kick" at the kids and no one did, that I realized, oh I have to teach my kids that on my own. Happy to do so. But why did I pay $450 to realize I had to do all the basics in order for this class to "work?" Parents, know what you're getting into. If your child has little experience swimming, and all they've ever done is play in the shallow end of a pool, it will behoove your sanity to work on kicking and breathing A LOT before doing this class. read more

Life-Changing Swim Lessons! Ms. Cathy's swim lessons have been a game changer for our family. Our 3-year-old started off hesitant and tearful at his first lesson--but that quickly changed. In just four days, he was swimming the length of the pool, jumping in, and confidently saying, "I got this!" His confidence grew with every lesson, and so did our peace of mind. Ms. Cathy's confident, structured approach truly works. We can't recommend her enough! read more

Ms Cathy Swim Austin - Graduation day! - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Austin, Texas

This is one of the worst businesses that I have ever come across! I regret ever trying to book my son here. Originally I booked a 5 day course with Cathy. Unfortunately due to an unforeseen emergency surgery that my son needed to have he couldn't make it. As per the doctors note, it specifically states no swimming for 1 week. Days prior I reached out to Cathy and this was her message: "We are sorry for any inconvenience, but we cannot make any changes as stated on website and ticket, but you are welcome to try and find someone to purchase your tickets from you.  Thank you for understanding" First off, my situation was an emergency. She doesn't even empathize. Doesn't give any details except tell me to find someone to buy my ticket, honestly I was dumbfounded. I kept pleading with Cathy because $400 isn't pennies. If I pay for something I except to get what I paid for. Truly didn't expect this though! I eventually got on the phone with her and literally argued with her. Mind you I didn't even request a refund, I simply asked if my son can just get signed up for another available week that she had open. She simply stated "if your son takes another week I lose someone else paying $400". And then she had the nerve to say "fine I'll eat up $200 but you pay the other $200." Are you kidding me?? So that would have brought me up to $600. Insane! After considering the discussion that I had with her I am truly dissatisfied and disappointed by the way she manages and does business. I have paid for a service that she refuses to reschedule at no additional cost or refund me due to an unforeseen emergency surgery that my son had to have. She has truly demonstrated that her sole focus is to make money and not uphold good and ethical customer service and business practices. The two options she proposed simply do not make sense. I see no reason for her to charge me an additional $200 to change the week as I have stated it was an unforeseen emergency as to why my child could not swim on the week we had previously scheduled. The second option she proposed also does not work as I would not recommend her business to anyone else on the grounds of the way she has handled this situation. Therefore, finding someone to sell my ticket to is not an option. Additionally, the fact that she expects a customer to find another customer in order to get any money back is ridiculous. I would have hoped that because my child had an emergency, she would have been initially flexible enough to provide me with another week at no additional charge or refund me for a service that she has not rendered. I requested and asked her if I can get a refund of $400 back and of course no response! People, please know that you can't even file a claim through your bank or Venmo?! She knows exactly what she's doing and that's ripping families off by this no refund BS! I should have paid attention to all the negative reviews... read more

Classes with Ms. Cathy were a great decision. My youngest went from "I hate swimming" after the first class to "I love swimming" on day 3. Yes, Cathy has a system, and is pretty rigid about procedures, but most of it is pretty clear on her website and in her reminder emails, and I wouldn't want things to be loose with kids around a pool and a driveway, so I get it. She is also, like Mary Poppins, firm, but never cross with the kids. If that makes you uncomfortable, swim elsewhere. If you take a "get back on the horse" approach to supporting your kids through challenges, this will work for you Every kid in the class (baby to third grade) did well. The ones who fussed on day one (my youngest included) were jumping in the pool and practicing underwater skills confidently by day 4. (The babies still cried here and there, but they are babies, after all.) . read more

We put my younger son in Miss. Cathy's swim this year. He just turned 4 a few weeks ago and was terrified of the water less than a week ago . I am a total believer in her process as it has now worked for both of my boys. 3 sessions in and he is diving through hoops! This is the best investment I can make in my child's safety around pools. We will still be working with him everyday to follow up with this course but I am so happy with the amazing progress he has made. read more

Ms Cathy Swim Austin - 3rd lesson, diving through the hoops during instruction - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Austin, Texas

If you asked me one week ago if my 5yr old could swim, I would say no. In 5 short lessons, he can swim the length of the pool and more! I am still in shock and incredibly thankful for Ms Cathy! read more

Both of my Austin granddaughters learned to swim from Ms. Kathy ... they have a pool at their home so it was imperative that they learn. In just three days they were each swimming and by the end of week two they were swimming amazingly well. The oldest had quite a fear of being underwater but that was taken care of. I cannot recommend Kathy highly enough ... so wonderful to see everything the kids accomplish in two weeks of lessons. Don't wait ... sign your kids up ASAP! read more

If you are into watching someone drown your kid then this is for you. Really awful experience for my son as well as all the other kids in the class. All the kids were screaming because of her method. There are much better ways to teach your kid to swim other then the drowning method. After all don't you want your kid to enjoy swimming not be terrified of it? I wouldn't suggest going to her at all. Terrible experience. We are going to have someone just come to our house to teach our son to swim now. Hopefully he gets over his new fear from Ms. Cathy drowning him and will enjoy the pool again soon. read more

We just finished our week at Ms Cathy's swim. My son who is 3 was swimming on the 2nd day. One of my twin girls (who are 2) was swimming on day 3 and my other twin girl is able to hold her breath and climb out of the pool but still needs work on kicking. Ms Cathy has been so helpful and responsive to helping us figure out next steps because I don't want to quit the momentum. Ms Cathy is extremely kind and adores these kids. Yes they are scared on the first couple days, because water is scary! Lots of kids are also scared on their first fews days of school but we just don't walk away and say oh well you didn't like it so you're not going back. Lots of kids also hate being put in car seats but we all do it because its the law and it's safe. None of my kids are traumatized AT ALL. They all loved going to swim class and they still love to swim! They are now more comfortable around the water and respect the water. I really hate to see people bash what Ms Cathy is trying to do. She is literally trying to help families make sure their kids are safe and keep them alive. If it's not for you, that's fine. Please move on and let this woman continue to help save kids lives! read more

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the text below belong solely to me and should not be viewed as fact, they are merely MY opinion and our experience only. Giving this statement for all those threats/attorney letters we Yelpers receive for being honest. For clarification, my husband took our child both years we attempted these lessons. I was fully aware that this type of "teaching" technique is not for the faint of heart and therefore likely not something I could stomach for even 30 minutes even one session. Second time summer 2019 we tried Ms. Cathy's Swim again, yes I know should have never listened to the husband after dropping out the first time after a week when child was under 2yrs old. This time hoping since child is older it would be an easier experience. Nope it was no different, had to beg & plead for kiddo to go by the second day. Third day full blown meltdown, crying and begging not to go and then every day after that when mentioned going to swim classes. Child went only a few days this time (shorter even than the time before) and I finally snapped out of my crazy, realizing I most certainly should not sacrifice my kids safety and comfort over $400. Kiddo still pleads daily not to go to Ms. Cathy's and has not been in a while. For my child who is 3yrs old to remember this daily around the same time as swim class sure says a lot about the impression left. Summary of our experience: Observed arrogance, aggressive and dangerous behavior. I do not enjoy hearing about ANY child, much less MY child's head forcefully shoved underwater towards hard cement steps, having them gulp for air or vomit, freaking out crying (not just the regular cry) and then brought home with bruises and scraps all over the knees and shins due to an adult shoving my kid into cement. I thought I was paying to contribute to a positive swim experience and boy was I wrong! My child was a willing participant, excited to learn and did not have to be shoved in the pool nor head forcefully shoved under water, as this can all be accomplished with simple instruction (very confident around water). Also shoving kids headfirst into cement should never be warranted or okay! Also, why yell at parents over parking on the 2nd day when everyone is still getting the hang of the process? I am in utter shock how this place still operates without someone being harmed (child or adult!) Also, no way in heck would my very water confident child have learned anything more than to flail about trying to BREATH much less an actual swim technique here, not sure I would have as an adult if I had someone shoving my head down under the water repetitively! Simply put, it is my opinion that the "teaching" style and behavior by Ms. Cathy is offensive. Very unprofessional behavior for someone we paid to interact with our young child. I will forever feel ashamed I allowed my child to go here and actually paid for this! Side note: SO very not cool to those parents that may have taken down their honest reviews in exchange for a refund. Had I have seen more experiences posted such as mine (I can almost bet there are many based on other parents reaction to the class!) I would certainly have second guessed going here, spared myself and child the trauma. read more

Ms. Cathy is the ONLY swim lessons anyone will need. From your first time in the water to refining technique for swim team, Cathy has the ability to assist anyone. Our first child took lessons in 2016 with great success, and now both kids are swimming with Cathy in 2018. Cathy is wonderful about providing precise, direct, impactful direction and lessons for each swimmer. Both of my girls were swimming after less than 1.5 hrs with Cathy. If you're in the Austin area, Cathy is the way to go, hands down! read more

Ms Cathy Swim Austin - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Austin, Texas

Update: Shortly after writing my review, Ms. Cathy contacted me about the review. She claimed she wanted to make things right and offered a refund. Before granting the refund, she said she wouldn't make the refund unless I amended my review. I agreed to amend to state that the company contacted me and a refund was made. She was not happy with that and demanded I remove all negative information IN EXCHANGE for the refund. This is against Yelp's policies and I brought that to her attention. She continued to state that she **would not refund me unless I removed my negative review.** I ended up reporting this to Yelp's fraud investigation department. This goes against the entire reason we have fair and balanced reviews. To date, I have no refund. I am disappointed with how I was treated by this business. I felt others should know about these types of practices. read more

I don't have words strong enough to adequately warn you off of this place, this approach, and this person. I arranged with Miss Cathy to observe a lesson before enrolling our son, almost 3 at the time. The reality of what goes on in and next to the pool is exactly as described in the other one-star reviews: screaming, terrified children being pried loose from their parents, thrust into the water, and held under. That's the method and Miss Cathy, to her credit, makes no bones about it. The narrative is, this is the way to teach children, to keep them safe, otherwise, people die. The only other "instructor" was Miss Cathy's teen daughter, who was in no position to object to her methods. What the other reviewers haven't talked about is the mental state of the parents. They're uncomfortable, shell-shocked, and terrified. It's not surprising -- they've given over control of their child and broken trust, in a terribly uncomfortable way. It's something akin to group think or cult-like mind control. I'm not being melodramatic or overstating here - recognizing and avoiding group-think, and understanding the warning signs of inappropriate group control, are a part of my profession. I'm telling you, that's what's going on here. There were several signs of it, and I could bend your ear for 30 minutes over a coffee, but you need only one to illustrate my point: During the course of the lesson, there was a lightning sighting, and - again to her credit - Miss Cathy cleared the pool for a 10 minute safety break. What went on next is all you need to know. Picture it for a moment. You've got around 10-15 adults, and their children, gathered on the deck, waiting to see if the weather would clear. What SHOULD happen is that parents should be interacting with each other, talking about the swimming, or the kids, or overseeing the kids playing together. What actually went on was a page out of Jim Jones' book. Everyone stayed in rapt, uncomfortable attention as Miss Cathy told stories about how dangerous the water is, how dangerous storms are, how she (nearly?) lost loved ones to drowning, and - this is the most important part - how THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT IT. Parents, you're suffering now, this feels wrong to you, but it's all for the safety of your children. Please understand, I'm not placing any blame on these parents, or indicting them in any way. The ability of an individual to manipulate a group of people through a combination of fear, punishment, and inappropriate withholding of control is a well-documented phenomenon, and although we'd all like to believe we're immune, in the right circumstances, none of us are. And I'm not saying Miss Cathy studied up on the approach. But it's what she's doing. The praise (a.k.a. 5 star reviews) of survivors should be taken with a very large grain of salt. Does it work? Sure. You can teach humans to do anything (provided it's physically possible) by threatening their survival if they fail to comply. And, as it turns out, it is possible for young children to swim. But mortal threats have serious psychological consequences. That's why teachers don't threaten to beat and kill students for not completing their homework. And, why you probably don't want to threaten to drown your kid if he/she doesn't swim RIGHT NOW. That's Miss Cathy's method in a nutshell; her cult-like approach is just to distract you from that fact. Don't drink the Kool-Aid. There are other ways to keep your kids safe in water. There are kinder, more appropriate approaches that also work. ISR is one option, though not the only one. Or find a different way. Any way but this. read more

As stated in many reviews, both positive and negative, this method is definitely not for all families. I want to share our experience so that you can make a decision based on what you know about your own kids. I do think it can work for kids that are already swimming a bit on their own OR really young kids (maybe under a year). For our kids (ages 2 and 4), taking this class was not a good choice and caused us to reverse some of the progress we'd been making previously in terms of overcoming fear of water. I deeply regret not listening to our kiddos after the first day of class. Our 2 year old really did not learn any swim skills - Ms Cathy had to give her pushes to get her to the edge even on the last day of class. Our 4 year old was able to maybe swim about 5 feet without assistance by the end. But, they're now totally afraid of non-shallow pools and don't even want to enter while being held by parents (read: tears and screaming). And whenever we pick them up from school a tiny bit early, they are hesitant to come out to us and ask if we are going to Ms Cathy's. For our kids, the approach was just too traumatizing. We had been working up the excitement at home for a few weeks, telling them they'd be taking swim classes and having them do kicks on the bed per Ms Cathy's recommendation. They were excited to start but the approach just jumped in too quickly. A few things that I think could have been better (both on our side and Ms Cathy's): - I really wish that some time was spent to build trust built between the kids and Ms. Cathy before they were forced to swim on their own. Both of our kids screamed/cried all 5 days. On the second day, our daughter cried so hard that she actually threw up. This probably reflects just as poorly on our parenting as it does on this approach that we let it get that far. We hadn't seen much progress in our group lessons and Ms Cathy previously told me that most kids don't like her on days 1 and 2 but love her by the last day so I hoped that there would be some kind of turning point. There were probably fewer tears on day 5, but it was definitely not smiles. - It felt like there were too many kids in the class. If I remember correctly, on the first day, our kids got about 4 turns in the water during the 30 minute class so maybe a total of 2-3 minutes spent in the water with Ms. Cathy. This did increase a bit over the days, but I'd say any given day, they probably don't spend more than 5 minutes in the water. On day 2, at one point when one of ours was reluctant to get in the water, Ms Cathy got irritated and said she couldn't wait because other kids had to take their turns. I totally understand where she's coming from, but it didn't help the situation. - Unfortunately, we had a rain day cancellation during our 5 day week so 10 minutes were added to the last 3 sessions. This part is my fault, but I thought the 10 minutes were added to the end of the session and not the beginning so we did miss one of the 10 minute extra sessions. That said, I think a better approach would be a makeup day and not adding 10 minutes to the three remaining sessions. It's already a very short and intensive program, and I think they may have actually gotten over a bit more of the fear and built some confidence if they'd had 5 real days with Cathy. Adding 10 minutes to each class just meant more screaming/crying on those days. - On our end, I think we should not have brought the siblings together. As soon as one got upset, the other fed off of their anxiety and vice versa. I will say that I didn't feel that they were in danger or the class was unsafe. It jus felt like we were part of an experiment to see how much of our kids' screaming/crying we could withstand. It made us feel terrible as parents, and it was detrimental to our kids' progress and confidence. read more

I was nervous about the jump-right-in method for my sensory-sensitive 7 year old, but Ms. Cathy's swim course was just what he needed! He knew he was safe with her and he loved it from day 1. He came up spluttering a few times, but was always ready to go again. On Monday, he was nervous about putting his face in the water, and by Friday, he was diving through hoops, racing classmates across the pool, and swimming to the bottom of the pool to grab rings (and his medal that he dropped on awards day!). Not only did he learn to swim, but his confidence just soared with every little interaction with Ms. Cathy. Highly highly recommend! read more

Ms Cathy Swim Austin - Happy kid sitting on the side of the pool, showing off his medal on the last day of swim lessons. - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Austin, Texas

My 3.5-year-old has no fear around the water unfortunately he also didn't know how to swim so I needed to do something fast. After asking around the daycare watercooler Ms. Cathy's Swim Classes were mentioned and I quickly Googled her and signed up. After reading the website and reviews I buckled in for her "system" however I didn't think it was so bad. Her classes should be viewed as 1. Safety- just like buckling your kid into the car seat, they can cry/kick/scream hate it- but- it has to be done. 2. Starting the correct form for swimming. The Results: After just 5 days (30 minutes) My kid can now swim underwater for about 15 seconds, he knows to jump away from the pool edge and I am confident he will be ok if he accidentally falls in. read more

Ms Cathy's swim program works wonders! My daughter (4.5 yrs) had taken swim lessons with other companies, but continued to hate getting her face wet and cried at the mere mention of "going under". What to expect- tears day one and proud swimming faces by day five. My daughter cried the first day of lessons, but we trusted the process and by the end of the second day she realized her own ability and looked forward to more lessons with Ms. Cathy. She loves to practice and show off her new skills in the pool! There was a large age range in our class (1 yr to 6.5 yrs) and all the children went through the same process with slight adjustments for children who were more advanced. I was pleased with the class and think, for us, 4.5 yrs was the perfect age to really connect and make significant swimming progress. read more

We signed our child up for Ms Cathy's swim class many weeks ago, and I have just now had time to write a review. Her teaching approach, while very concise, upfront and direct in her methods, may well suit other parents and kids, but this was NOT the class for our child. If your child is a first time swimmer, I do not recommend this school at all for safety reasons. Dramatically forcing kids to go under water when they've had no swimming experience is a dangerous practice, and I am beyond shocked that parents have written such glowing reviews. Vomiting, throwing up, and screaming are par for the course and expected. Our child was incredibly fearful and anxious to go back in the water again, did not trust any instructors at any other swim school, and displayed a sad level of tension around the pool and water that we have never seen before. I had to explain to the swim instructor what happened in the previous class, and they had to undo the mess that this school did to our kid. My advice to newcomers - if you are insistent on having your child attend swim classes here. OBSERVE a class FIRST before putting your child through this ridiculous display of trauma. You've been warned. read more

I'll shoot you strait.... "this isn't a one size fits all method".....with no judgement... this might not be for everyone. It is intense. I have read the 1 star reviews.... and I get the parents concern about the methodology. YOU are your child's parent, the buck stops with YOU. If you ain't feeling it..... walk. simple as that.... and good for you! (sincerely). Do what is best for your kid. THAT being said.... I have 3 children (6,4,2) all of them with very different personalities and dispositions (yay!) and ALL THREE OF THEM completed Ms. Cathy's course with great success - all at 2.5 years old. The 6 year-old is a very strong swimmer (diving to the deep end to retrieve toys etc.); the 4 year-old is very capable of swimming across our 25ft long pool, taking breaths along the way and gets herself out of the pool unassisted, she LOVES swimming! This 4 year old middle-child is high functioning autistic BTW. The baby is 2.5 - just completed the course today and was the MOST timid and upset of our 3 kids. She admitted at the end of every session "that was fun!".... so there's that.... out of the mouth of babes. We have a pool 10 feet from our back door so we felt MOST comfortable taking the financial risk and watched and read each child to make sure that they continued to feel supported and comforted and didn't have any upsetting effects. None of them did what-so-ever. Literally immediately after their most upsetting session.... they acted normally.... felt secure and loved and supported. Ms. CATHY - there is an edge to her, and if you are sensitive.... you need to understand this. She is firm, but kind. She verbally encouraged each of my children, celebrated them.... and coached all my children and instructed me in ways to help make them stronger swimmers. In short, I can see why this might not be the best fit for everyone, but it worked for us in 2014, 16 &18 --- with three very different children. Best of luck parents.... its a tough job! If you are reading this..... that means that you care and you are KILLING IT! read more

This worked for us. I had reservations about the methods, cost, and my nearly 4-year-old's strong temperament, but I'm very pleased with the results: we now have a kid who is more confident in the water and happy to show off her new skills. We've been in weekly 30-minutes swim lessons on and off since my daughter was a baby, so she had no fear of the water but the progress had naturally been very slow, and Miss Cathy helped to rev that up and set a good foundation to build on. Yes, the first day was tough with all of the kids crying by the end of the lesson (even the ones who started out happy), but by the end of the week all in our group were swimming and only one (a young toddler) was still crying. Our experience wasn't consistent with what some of the negative reviews here mention. From what I saw Miss Cathy tailored her approach a bit to each kid depending on their willingness to swim, and she was more gentle with those who struggled and cried. There was no forceful shoving or causing of injury- she was firm but not at all harsh with the kids. And yes, there are rules around parking and changing but it was all manageable for the read more

Ms Cathy is the best! After months at Elmer (& no progress) we heard about Ms Cathy and gave it a try. We did group lessons for our 2 year old and by day 5 she was swimming to the stairs by herself! A week later we decided to do more lessons as she still had some anxiety around the pool- so we did private 3 day lessons with her daughter, Ms Sam. The best money we ever spent! Couldn't recommend them more! Our daughter now enjoys swimming! No anxiety! She wants to "go under" and swim for hours. So happy to see her having fun in the pool. Thank you Ms Cathy & Ms Sam!! We will be doing more lessons and will also be bringing our son. read more

Ms. Cathy taught my son to swim in 5 days. I can't even explain how rewarding it was to see my son swimming on day 5 and jumping in on his own. The confidence on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best, he was at a 15. Do what's best for your child and stick with it even the first 2 days, and you're golden. Thank you Ms. Cathy! I can't recommend you enough. read more

My children are 12, 10 and 1. Ms Cathy taught my oldest two to swim at ages 3 and 1. I remember it being a hard week. I was a new mom to two little ones and tried my best to always respect their little feelings and words and they were for sure not happy to be at Ms. Cathys and told me so loudly! They cried the whole week. I remember being so anxious and wondering if it was worth it, but let me tell you that it was. We left there and have been happily swimming safely for the last 9 years. They have been strong confident swimming since that week and it did not "traumatize" them or how they think about water in any way and did not damage their bond to me as their safe person. Fast forward to this last week when I got to take our bonus baby to ms. Cathy for her intensive program. He is 22 months and he did amazing. He cried the second day when all the kids were feeding off of each other but that's it. I feel so relieved to have ripped the bandaid off so to speak. We did two lessons at Elmer and he didn't like them. He was bored, he wanted to swim! It would've taken us two years of Elmer to get where Ms Cathy for us in a week. As a parent I will always worry about my children and water safety when I am not there, but now I can feel confident when I am there that my toddler isn't going to trip and take on water right in front of me. He will fall, hold his breath and get back up. If there's a pool step he will fall and swim back to it and climb out himself! For me Ms. Cathys swim program is like putting an infant in a car seat. Do they like it at first? No! Is it comfortable for them? No. Do they cry? Mine sure did! Is that upsetting? Sure was for me. Is it necessary for their safety and long term car habits to get used to it? Absolutely! Ms. Cathys program Is the same. Now I can see what my child is capable Of and adjust the learning to my parenting style to continue to work with him at home and keep him Safe! I highly recommend all parents complete this program. Don't give up the first couple of days or you will never get to see the fruit of the hard work! read more

Miss Cathy has now taught 3 of my children to swim. We love her! The program has evolved a little since we first went a few years ago. Day one is now much less stressful to kiddos, as you start off with them hanging off your legs in the water. (Although, I'll be honest that none of my kids ever cried.) If you want your child safe in water *quickly* Ms. Cathy is your person! But, if you want a slow introduction to water and take years to being able to swim safely out of a pool, choose one of the more popular franchises. read more

Let me start by saying I highly recommend Ms. Cathy and her swim techniques. It's not easy, but nothing worth it ever is. Nothing will prepare you for Day 1. Both my 5 year old and two year old were losing it, along with all the kids in the class. Ms. Cathy kept her cool and tried her best to keep the kids and parents calm. By day 3, my girls were swimming on their own. By day 5, they were giggling and trying to cut in line to go swim first. By the last class, I now have two fish on my hands. This was my two year olds first swim lessons and Ms. Cathy was wonderful with her. This was my five year olds third year of swim lessons- one at Elmer and two with a private weekly lesson- and she didn't know how to swim! Ms. Cathy had her swimming in no time. She also spent a lot of time telling us, the parents, safety tips, how to teach the kids to be safe and how we can be safe in the water too. Worth every dime. read more

Absolutely fantastic program! I've taken my 7 year old son to Ms. Cathy every summer since he was 3 years old. Now I am taking my 2 year old daughter this summer. Both of my kiddos absolutely love her! Cathy is professional, intelligent and truly a master swim teacher. I highly recommend her to every single one of my friends. Here is a video I made of my son his very first year, when he was 3.5 years old: https://youtu.be/myjFFLq-CZg read more

Ms.Cathy's approach efficiently builds your little swimmers confidence. Her years of experience in teaching all different ages and people and then watching results happen so quickly holds a lot of weight for me!!! You will be so glad you picked this program!!! Ms. Cathy is amazing! read more

Ms Cathy Swim Austin - Swimming Lessons/Schools Near Me - Austin, Texas

Terrible experience. Watching my child fight to swim while not receiving the help and support I expected she would, was heartbreaking. Our child left traumatized and still can not swim!!! If your child is a first time swimmer, I do not recommend this school at all. read more

I fully agree with all the bad reviews on here - total joke and decided not to go back after day 1. My 2.5 year old daughter has been swimming for a year now and my wife and I were under the impression that this was an, "advanced" class - HA (come to find out it was a crash "swim or sink" shock therapy course for kids that had never swam)! My daughter spent most of the 15 minutes we were actually sitting at the edge of the pool (because the first 15 minutes were spent in a group chat away from the pool) watching kids who had never swam scream hysterically with some of them literally running away from the pool with their parents chasing them (especially after having their heads forced underwater). I think my child was in the pool for a total of 2 minutes max during day 1 and I had no idea there would be so many kids (I expected a much smaller class and there were at least ten children if not more for a 30 minutes class, half of which was talking). Oh and all the rules...you can only park in the driveway with all the other cars which means if you're last to get there then you have to shove your kid in the car and leave ASAP or if you're first then you're stuck there waiting...you can't change your kid there and your kid can't use the restroom there and Ms. Cathy's suggestion is to stop at a McDonalds parking lot close to the home (really, stop the car at one extra destination and change your child into a swimsuit in the TX heat and then after the so-called swim lesson, stop there again and break out the portable potty - Ms. Cathy DOES realize how incredibly inconvenient that is for parents/children?). Anyway, we aren't going back to that joke of a class - we already enrolled our daughter in advanced class at Emler (her third one and I highly recommend Emler by the way) and soon we are taking her to Blue Hole in Wimberly) plus we take her to our a club with a pool where we reinforce her Emler lessons (both my wife and I swam competitively so between us and Emler we are covered, point being that NO ONE needs to go to Ms. Cathy's classes for their child to become an excellent swimmer). Anyway, re Ms. Cathy's classes...don't believe the hype and get Punk'd by paying for this nonsense. read more

I took my middle son here in 2020, after a big scare the year before where he jumped in our pool while unattended without his swim vest because swim vests make kids think they can swim. He was 3 almost 4 when he took the class and at that time classes were two weeks for four days each week. He learned how to swim in two or three days and has been a swimmer ever since. It was a huge relief. I also took my daughter to Ms. Cathy when she was under 1, 1, and she is in the class now at 2. For these ages she was doing pretty well while in the class but I didn't keep up with the methods after the class so hopefully this year it sticks. She has more fear than my son did for the method, but she jumped off the side on her own yesterday. I know she still struggles to remember to kick as vigorously as she needs to, and I may sign up for another week this summer to help her, but she is coming along. I see some parents have had complaints but as a parent you have to believe in the method. If you don't remain confident your kid will not trust the method. It's easy for me to believe because I saw it work for my middle kid. read more

These classes have given our family peace around water! 3 of our 4 children can swim because of Ms. Cathy and the 4th is enrolled this summer although we recently moved to Dallas! We won't waste money on someone else when we know Ms. Cathy works, so we are making the trip south for a week to learn to swim! We have four children and I avoided these classes with our first child because she is more reserved and was never curious about the water. Plus, the idea of survival swim was disturbing to me, but now I realize that I had an entirely wrong mindset. Our boys came along and were fearless! I was traumatized after jumping into pools fully clothed numerous times as my children instantly sank to the bottom. That's when I knew it was time for Ms. Cathy. We enrolled our older two kids when they were 4.5 yrs and 2.5 yrs. I was nauseous the entire day or two leading up to the lessons, but after Day 1 I knew it was exactly what our family needed. Ms. Cathy has had a great deal of swim training throughout her years, American Red Cross being one place in particular. She's passionate about what she does and truly cares about keeping children safe around water. She made us feel confident that our children would learn to swim by the end of her lessons and she was extremely sweet, caring, while being firm throughout the entire process. Our youngest tried to run away during the lesson, but soon got comfortable with the repetition and by the end was having fun and could swim! We enrolled our third child when he was 1.5 yrs old. He cried every single swim lesson, but learned to swim and could save himself in the water. Our fourth child starts in a few weeks and it couldn't come fast enough. She is obsessed with the water and has no fear so these lessons are mandatory! Sometimes doing the most difficult things as a parent are the best things for our children! These lessons have been one of our greatest investments as parents! People are AMAZED at how well our children (now ages 3, 5 and 7) can swim; they truly are fish! I sincerely thank you, Ms. Cathy! read more

Ms Cathy is a miracle worker! This is our 3rd year in a row to use her at the start of summer to refresh my kids, and she is truly amazing. She is patient and talks to the kids on a level they can understand. While at first it may be jolting to watch with the little ones, she creates confident & smart swimmers. My 4 year old looks forward to swimming with her and now understands so much more about pool safety and what to look for at unfamiliar pools. He is proud of the "tricks" she teaches them (shallow diving, diving through hoops, going to the bottom to get a toy). This is quite possibly one of the best investments! Thank you SO much, Cathy! read more

HELL. That's all that I can remember. Ms. Cathy is more interested in how everyone parks in her driveway than the health and safety of her students. On the 1st day of class, a child threw up because he ate food before class. She didn't tell anyone not to have the children eat before class, but she did tell everyone, over and over again, about where and how to park. Learning to swim does not have to be HELL. It can be safe, gentle, and fun, (just like my mom did for me) and I found that at Emler Swim School. With Emler Swim School, my daughter is an advanced swimmer and I'm thankful that she did not fear the water after Ms. Cathy. The only regret I have about raising my child is taking her to Ms. Cathy. I cringe, get a sick feeling in my stomach, and just want to collapse thinking about the experience. We dropped out after week 1 and I seriously don't know how we survived week 1. Hope my review saves you and your child the agony of her technique (throw in the water, choke, try to survive). If you're going to teach your child how to ride a bike, would you put him/her on a bike without teaching them balance and how to pedal? That's Ms. Cathy's method...throw in, then sink or swim (INSTINCT, not INSTRUCTION)! read more

Absolutely amazing! All three of my girls learned swim at Ms Cathy's! They go above and beyond for the kids. I cannot say enough good things about them! read more

I have 2 children, ages 4 years old and 2 1/2 years old. We attended Ms. Cathy's swim session last week and have had the BEST results. Pros: Miss Cathy is professional, courteous, straight-forward and and a "no-nonsense" teacher. That said, this is a class that requires the parent to swallow a dose of tough love going into the swim session. She encourages children, and although they may cry in the beginning, many children (almost all) love her by the end. Her technique is phenomenal. She actually teaches children to not be afraid of the water and learn the proper technique in swimming. There is no fluff. The kids are in line and each child gets a lot of one on one attention with her. Facility: Excellent pool. There is a rock cliff for jumping that teaches the kids about depth perception. She switches the jumps into the pool so the kids are constantly challenged. She has a huge slide which is the reward at the end of week 2. Results: My 4 year old is very confident and swimming. She feels comfortable with her head under the water and started using her arms to pull it altogether. My son, is almost getting the swimming idea. I still think the lessons were a success because he has no fear jumping in the pool, placing his face under the water and trying to put together kicks. He was excited to be able to swim across the pool. Is he as good as his sister? Nope. But Ms. Cathy gave him the basic tools to learn the proper technique on how to swim. He just needs more practice with me. I love the concept of really teaching kids on how to swim instead of bobbing up in down in floatation devices. I truly am so happy that we made the effort to attend her swim session! She is remarkable. I do agree with other reviewers that this teaching style may not be for every family. However, if you want your child to SWIM, then go see Ms. Cathy! Isn't that the point? read more

My daughter is 5 years old. When she was 3.5 she jumped in the pool without her floaties on and being that it was noisy from the waterfalls going in the pool, no one heard her. Thankfully my mother saw her.... Traumatic for all, and thank God she was ok.... But I digress. From that point forward she was traumatized to get her face wet in the shower, or even let me put a Washcloth to her face. At 5 years old though, we decided we needed to have the peace of mind knowing that she'd be safe and FEEL safe in the water. Then we heard about Ms. Cathy. Two separate strangers told me, "you HAVE to go with ms. Cathy, there is just no other way". Unless you want to drag it out and see little by little improvement, then go with a swim center. It's SO true. Fast forward to our first day. It was the hardest thing to see someone push my child in a water environment where my child had absolutely no control over what she had just been forced to do. Listen up. From the FIRST day, my daughter was swimming. Head down, eyes open, under the water. The FIRST day. You don't know my child, but she's nearly the most difficult child to ever do anything new... Much less put her head under water. And even though she hated it, she had yet to realize she could DO it, amazing! YES your child will cry, YES they will scream and beg for you not to make them keep doing it over and over during the lesson. Yes, They might even throw up. But once you start, mark my words, you cannot let your child stop, you will be a better parent for doing this. It gets easier on day 3. My daughter realized ( after trying to bargain with me), that this was just how it was going to be. She was counting down the days till we didn't have to come any more. Day 5 (after our swimming homework, and realizing that she could swim on her own in a public pool), she was a NEW child. CONFIDENT.. PROUD... MATURED somehow... It's the proudest moment I've ever had with her. My little girl, proud of herself, and on top of the world. Our last day. She expressed how her new favorite part of her lesson was getting to jump off the waterfall. (SAY WHAT!?) :)... My final thoughts about the parents in the class: The ONLY children who were still freaking out on day 8 were products of the parents who came late, skipped classes, or let them "skip a turn because the kids convinced them to".... I'm sorry, but a parent who just keeps inconsistently doing that to your kids? Of course they are going to be freaking out. Sad. I LOVE you Ms. Cathy, you were an angel. The best thing I could have asked for for these kids!!! read more

My son has only been to 4 classes with Ms. Cathy and HE CAN SWIM!!!! I can only imagine the little fish he will be by the end of the 8th class. I highly recommend Ms. Cathy to all parents who are tired of spending money on swimming lessons that use endless swimming props that only delay progress. I did that with my oldest child and it took her two years to get to where my son is with Ms Cathy. Ms. Cathy doesn't use anything to assist them in floating. She is OLD SCHOOL tough love. My son likes her and now looks forward to her class. Thank you Ms. Cathy and Ms. Britney for this wonderful technique. You are saving lives!!! read more

Ms. Cathy was highly recommended to us by more than a few friends for swim lessons for my 5 yr old daughter. We were able to get a summer spot at the last minute and very thankful we did. The first few days were pretty difficult for us both. There were many tears shed from both of us. In a matter of days my daughter was swimming on her own under water and taking breaths. Prior to Ms. Cathy's class, my daughter said she wasn't going to get her hair wet in the pool or swim until she was 6. After the first day of class she was swimming underwater and day 3 she was picking up dive sticks at the bottom of the pool w/ Ms. Cathy. Ms. Cathy is an excellent teacher and her 20+ yrs of experience show. She is professional yet personable. She works well with classes of many age groups combined. In our class there was a vast range from children from 1-7 yrs old; class size was less than 10. I will build in a disclaimer: Be prepared to stand tall. The first few days are rough and the crying is inevitable! My daughter stopped crying and wanted to get in line by herself by the 4th day. The life skill of swimming that Ms. Cathy teaches these children is priceless. My daughter now LOVES to swim. A major bonus was she learned the true meaning of bravery. She was so proud of herself for accomplishing the goal of swimming on her own. This was all in 8 classes. We're getting ready to take Ms. Cathy's Level 3 class. And my daughter is counting the days! Thank you Ms. Cathy for making swimming this summer a huge success. read more

This review is WAAAAY overdue but here goes...like yall I started with a google search to see what popped up online in order to see what swim lessons were getting rave reviews and of course, there was Emler, the YMCA etc. Anyway, the reviews for Ms. Cathy and her style instantly intrigued me because while most were four or five stars, some reviews were terrible and then I read the details of them ALL! The good the bad and the UGLY! The 5 star reviews were what sold me and made me feel confident in my decision to enroll my 2 year old. As a family, we spend a ton of time in and on the water. Sometimes it's a pool, but we also enjoy lakes, rivers, and creeks. It always weighed heavy on my nervous system that my daughter was super comfortable with the water but regardless, she did not have the skills or the comfort level to really swim. Let's jump to the important stuff: Day 1 was exactly like the five star reviews described. It was super intense and Ms. Cathy got straight to business. I handed my baby girl off to Ms. Cathy who was in the pool and under the water she went. (assisted by Ms. Cathy of course) Being it her first time to be held under, I was shocked that it came natural to her and her immediate instinct was to kick and propel herself forward. When she got to the steps and climbed out she instantly started crying and was pleading to not "do it again". However, we did it again and again. Short, quick trips across the shallow end and with each trip with my daughter was BEGGING me to "go back mommy, go back!" At one point I picked her up to comfort her instead of just going through the swim line and her anxiety level increased 10 fold. At this point Ms. Cathy warned that holding her was only impeding the process so I put her down and she kept trying to pull me back to where we started in order to hopefully end the lesson. After a looooong but quick 30 minutes, day one was finally over. Day 2: My daughter was reluctant, to say the least, and began to get anxious at home even before we packed for our second lesson. Upon arrival at Ms. Cathy's house she began to cry a little bit but I knew I was giving her a great gift and possibly saving her life so this mama bear powered through and put on my best game face. Right after all the kids did their first swimming pass Ms. Cathy said "day two is where the magic happens!" She was so right! After my daughter's third lap, she was no longer crying, had pep in her step and was oozing confidence. It only got better during the remaining 6 days. Yes I said 6!!! My finally thoughts on this "style" of learning to swim are as follows: 1. Suck it up as a parent knowing you are not torturing your child but giving them a huge gift. 2. Trust the process. 3. You HAVE to come back on day two even if the first felt like hell. 4. Expect the whole class to exude freak out vibes on day one. 5. All the kids will be crying like crazy and even some parents on day one (it's mostly a silent hell amongst parents so no one talks for the most part) 6. Don't use Ms. Cathy if you want your kids to learn how to blow bubbles; go to the YMCA instead. 7. Put on your game face and be your child's biggest cheer leader. 8. Enjoy that your child is now a fish and have a blast feeling confident with their new found skill. 9. Find a pool and get wet! 10. You are welcome! PS. IGNORE the one star reviews of people saying Ms. Cathy is a swim Nazi and commits child abuse. One, those parents are probably wimps so their children are as well and two, they never completed the process so how do they know?! Sidebars... It has been over 3 months since we completed Ms. Cathy's lessons (we did ours early summer) and my daughter swims in ALL bodies of water. Lakes, rivers, creeks etc. No water wings, no life jacket and for sure no goggles. For videos and questions hit me up on Instagram @lauriewatsonwallace read more