My three year old was terrified of getting water in her eyes and had figured out the trick of saying she had to go potty to get out of the pool. She was so nervous when we started at Waterloo and was up to her old tricks again with the "potty excuse", but we got the BEST teacher for our little girl. Ms. Ashton is AMAZING. She's fun, playful, sweet, encouraging, AND balances it with teaching and pushing my little girl. I'm amazed at how Ms. Ashton keeps track of where each kiddo is at in terms of their skills and what they like/don't like. She is patient and an absolute gem. I cannot rave about her and Waterloo as a whole enough. Just a few comments about Waterloo - we have had an amazing experience. From 2 of our kids being tentative to swimming to now loving it and seeing all the growth in their swimming is incredible. Today I watched one of my kids swim the length of the big pool and do a flip turn. There is no way I can do that as an adult. I'm amazed at not just the skills they are learning, but also the attention to form and technique. So very grateful to have lessons at an indoor pool, indoor seating for parents, and such kind staff (from teachers to the people who man the info email box). read more

Clean water, good instructions from staff, but I cannot get over why they instruct the kids in the furthest lanes away from the viewing area. You simply cannot see your kids swimming without binoculars. It defies logic. read more

Waterloo has been a great experience all the way around. Staff are friendly, helpful, and accommodating. Lessons provide the perfect level of challenge for consistent growth. Plus, this is one of the few swim schools in Austin that has a comprehensive adult curriculum. I look forward to coming here every week. Margo T. has especially been a fantastic instructor to learn from and I'm grateful for her resourcefulness and expertise. She coaches with kindness and encouragement, and she puts in extra time to find new drills for me that target my weaknesses. She is attentive in the pool and always has great feedback that helps me improve quickly. I'm so grateful for Margo and the entire Waterloo team for providing a fun and effective learning environment for adult swimmers. read more

Having my two little girls at Waterloo is one of the main highlights of the year. Our swimming instructor Mrs. Julie is incredible. She is always so kind and her way of teaching is really effective. My girls always have the biggest smiles on their faces before, during, and after lessons. I was looking for a facility where they wouldn't just learn how to swim, but also find a passion for swimming. After touring this location, I knew that this was going to be the perfect place for them. I was right. They've advanced so much in such a short period of time. I'm really happy that we decided on Waterloo swimming. I've been on a swim team most of my life. I was initially reluctant to put them in lessons because I should've been able to teach them...Welp I gave up but I knew that if I was going to put them in lessons my bar was going to be high. Waterloo exceeded my expectations. I'm so impressed by Mrs.Juile. We are so thankful for her. read more

Update: we came back a few years later to try swimming lessons again and unfortunately it was more of the same. In the beginning my child made great progress. Ok, we figured they were more mature and so swimming lessons would go ok. Again my child plateaued, this time at novice 2. For months and months we went to lessons and were assured it was fine. But when pressed on which skills my kid needed to advance, we got shifty answers. And no updates in their portal. Finally we got someone to evaluate and found it was just flip turns and endurance. We are still ok and continue lesssons hoping they will cover it in class. then a month goes by and they barely work on flip turns. I ask why that is because that was the one skill keeping my child from advancing. We get told child is too small and that is limiting their progress (child is 7 at this point and on the growth curve). We give notice hoping we things would turn around in that last month but nothing changes so we left again. This is a shame as we have heard many amazing things about Waterloo and they sponsor the neighborhood swim team (which my kid really enjoys). Perhaps it wasn't the right fit for us, I'm just not sure what else we could have done other than be more demanding with the progress reports. So 2 stars because my kids can swim across the pool proficiently but no more stars than that because of the discouraging experience. read more

Yes, you can register your kids for great beginner lessons here, but Waterloo is much more than that. Kids and adults with competitive swimming experience or aspirations can join the teams at Waterloo and take their training and performance to the next level. Our swimming family loves this swim center and here's why: -- Pool chemicals and temperature are appropriate and well maintained. We used to swim with our local Y (where we are still gym members), and the pool chemistry was always out of whack, or the pool temp was too hot for serious workouts, or the pool was suddenly closed because someone pooped in it. None of that has been a problem at Waterloo. -- Challenging programs available for USA Swimming and US Masters swimmers, taught by experienced coaches who still compete themselves. This draws talented athletes to train here. If you're in the adult program, don't be surprised to find yourself in a lane with a recent Olympian or Longhorn Aquatics champion. Some of the Waterloo Masters swimmers even hold recent world records for their age groups! -- Masters workouts available morning-noon-evenings almost every day, except Fri evenings off, Sat morning only, and Sun off all day. The Waterloo fee is $85/month, which is cheaper than our Y's monthly rate of $100 (and that's on top of the family membership fee)! -- Long course (50 meter, Mar/Apr-Aug) and short course (25 yard, Sep-Mar/Apr) seasons. Since they have a full Olympic-sized pool, you get to train in both types of courses if you swim here all year. If you are swimming to stay in shape or train for triathlons and you live in North Austin or Cedar Park, Waterloo should be your pool. read more

We love Waterloo. My kids have excelled in their programs. We've had a lot of luck with awesome coaches too! They've all been very caring and take time to connect with the kids. The key to growing safe swimmers is consistent classes or constant exposure to swimming. They have blitz classes that are excellent for this. I appreciate Waterloo trying their best to have a Covid safe environment and not make this a political issue but a safety issues. It's a clean indoor safe space to improve upon water safety skills for kids. I highly recommend Waterloo. read more

Do NOT take your small children to lessons here. It is NOT SAFE. First, I will say that I have training in water life saving and was on a swim team, so I am all about water safety. The staff do not pay attention in the pool area and any child who cannot swim is at serious risk of drowning. I wish I had read the other reviews first because I see we are not the first to experience this exact situation. We brought our 2 (almost 3) year old here. She was put in the purple level class which is 'complete beginner.' This was her second week. There was one other child in class with her. While the teacher works with one student, the other kids are expected to stand on a small ledge in the water and wait their turn. A few minutes into the class our daughter somehow slipped off the edge of that ledge and went under. She was flailing her arms and struggling. The teacher was several feet away with the other student and had her back fully turned to our daughter and did not notice as she began drowning. The deck manager also did not notice- he was not looking at the pool, instead he was chatting with another staff member. That's right, there were THREE TRAINED ADULTS in the area and not a single one of them noticed a child drowning. My husband and I saw what was happening and as the seconds went by we realized that NO ONE WAS NOTICING- we began frantically banging on the glass to get someone's attention, then had to POINT to what was happening to get someone to look. The deck manager FINALLY SAW what was happening and pulled her out of the water. This is BEYOND irresponsible. This could have turned out so much worse if my husband and I hadn't realized what was happening. Drowning takes only moments. A tip for Waterloo: Train your teachers to never have their back turned on ABSOLUTE BEGINNER swimmers, especially toddler aged ones! There's absolutely no reason why the teacher can't be facing towards the other kids while giving instruction to one child. Another tip: Have ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS sit on the edge of the pool while waiting for one child to have instruction, instead of having them stand on a small ledge in the water where they may easily slip. I have seen other swim schools teach toddler classes and this is how they do it. Pro: They immediately issued us a full refund and also apologized. read more

My whole experience at Waterloo has been wonderful! I HAD a fear of water due to a childhood trauma. Since attending Waterloo with help of my instructor Ashton P., I can now get in the water without fear, put my face in the water and breath calmly. I've learned to float and really enjoying just relaxing. We are on my next lesson of learning free stroke. I have come a long way in a short time, my family thinks Ashton P. she is a miracle worker. read more

"We have chosen to cancel the remainder of your classes with us as we continue to have staff inform us that masks are not being worn in compliance with our policies. I have already processed a refund to your card in the amount of $90 for the classes that have been canceled. We wish you all the best and hope you can return when mask-wearing is no longer a requirement." #1 - you can bet we won't be returning to this place even after this nonsensical mask wearing has ended. #2 - We actually were wearing our masks. But, if we are sitting literally 20 feet from anyone else in a large room and pull the mask down so we can breathe, this is going to kill everyone within that 20 feet? #3 - Some businesses actually speak to their CUSTOMERS. We received an email last week that we thought to be a generic "Hey lets wear ours masks" type email, but I guess it was directed personally at us. Apparently the ownership here has no sense of customer service. Someone should have actually came up to us and said something or called us last week. I guess the "new normal" for some businesses is to send an email. What a joke. By the way, you should not only refund the $90, you should also refund that $40 registration. Waterloo - you should really get some class and actually interact with your customers, not walk around like you are important by monitoring mask wearing. Had I known we were going to spied on and penalized for dropping our masks very few times, we would have never signed up our daughter. Who, by the way is now very disappointed, so thanks for that! UPDATE: No call back to my wife's VM left yesterday. Of course... But the good news is that we found another place! See below for what a smart business owner will do.... Nitro Swimming is Open for Swim Lessons and Swim Team Practice! Update June 2, 2020 Update of Nitro Swimming's Face Mask Policy Our goal continues to be focused on the health and safety of our swimmers and staff so as of 6/1/2020, our entire desk staff is required to wear protective masks and our swim instructors are wearing their face shields. We are still limiting our Swim School pools here in Texas to no more than 3 Instructors at a time in the water. The kids are spaced apart, buffer between classes, controlling about as much as we can control, and lessons and teams are running smoothly without a hitch. Now that we're opened, we're following the generally accepted guidelines being set regarding the wearing of masks. Our staff will continue to wear masks until otherwise instructed by the folks who are setting the policies. We have also moved toward what HEB, Wal Mart, Home Depot, area restaurants, health clubs like Lifetime Fitness and Gold's are doing: suggesting and encouraging the use of masks on anyone inside, but not mandating their use. As the owner of Nitro, I didn't want our staff getting put in any type of contentious situation as I've seen happen around the country. I've instructed them to continue to suggest and encourage the wearing of masks. We will continue to ask / remind/ suggest/ and encourage. All in all, parents and kids have been extremely happy. Thanks for being part of Nitro! - Mike Koleber, Nitro Swimming. read more

My kids have been swimming here for about 2 years and during that time have grown so much! Both kids have gone from barely doggy paddling to passing our neighborhood pool swim test, learning strokes and becoming so much more confident as swimmers. We've tried a lot of places nearby and Waterloo is by far the best at getting kids to be strong swimmers as quickly as possible. read more

My daughter asked me today how long she's been swimming at Waterloo. When the answer was "um, five or six years..." I realized it was probably time to finally leave a Yelp review. The instructors are great, my daughters find swimming fun, and they both make measurable progress throughout the year. My 3-year-old is working her way through the beginner lessons, and my 8-year-old will join swim fitness after she wraps up summer neighborhood swim team. It's a great swim school that has options for every level of swimmer, including kids who love to swim but aren't ready for or interested in competitive swimming. We love it. read more

If you wouldn't leave your child unattended near a swimming pool probably an excellent idea to stay clear of Waterloo Swimming! My little ones screeched with joy, "we have our swimsuits on and are ready to go to swim lessons"! Great I responded, "Do you have your towels? How 'bout your goggles? Don't forget your change of clothes if you don't want to drive home in wet clothes!" The excitement for swim lessons had been building for the whole family for weeks. Our 3 and 5-year-old could not wait for their 4-day swimming lesson "blitz." The plan was to get them used to the swim lessons in a week and then sign them up for weekly classes from there. We stepped into the building, and the kiddos were whisked away to the pool area, behind a glass wall, rather quickly. When I first read that, I would have to watch through a window; I was a little apprehensive. But, in my naivete, I convinced myself that there was nothing to worry about; after all, we were signed up for very BEGINNER SWIM LESSONS. Less than five minutes into the class, the teacher turned her back completely on my 3-year-old. My daughter being three and excited to be in the water jumped in. I jumped up and started banging on the window, watching in complete horror as my daughter flailed her two little arms struggling to stay afloat. After what felt like an eternity, the young "swim instructor" finally woke up and grabbed my little one out of the pool, coughing and crying. I found a supervisor and requested my child be brought to me immediately. As we left, I asked for a full refund as we would not be returning and was told that someone would most definitely call me. While I thought it odd that I did not receive a call, they emailed and gave us a full refund. I would have rather skipped this experience for my children and myself and had a trusted place to take my children for swim lessons instead. In the future, I will be looking for a place that cares enough to train their people to keep their eyes on their students and employ a lifeguard for an extra set of eyes. It will be a long time if ever that I agree to be behind glass, either. This company does not take the safety of your children seriously; please do not trust them with your kiddos. read more

We have been coming here for a year teaching my then three year old how to swim, and are sad we have to leave it as we are moving to another city. They have been so great with our son in teaching him how to swim- in a year he started from knowing nothing, to be able to swim all over a pool and even do flips underwater! It has given us so much comfortability knowing he is safe in the water. On our last class they even gave him a little good bye gift package , it was very touching and my four year old loved it. Would highly recommend for anyone wanting to reach their kids how to swim. read more

This is the best place for your kiddo to learn how to swim! Elmer is for fun but if you want your kiddo to actually learn to swim, you need Waterloo!! Both my kiddos have gone here and they are empowered by knowing how to swim! read more

Took adult swimming lessons here and was amazed at how much progress I was able to make in just a few weeks - great instructors and wonderful facility. Highly recommend! read more

Fabulous swim school, prompt to answer any questions either in person or by email. Very easy to transfer my kids swim lesson schedule if needed. Cool online feature to see what skills my kids have acquired, along with notes of what they are working on currently during lessons. Thank you Waterloo for helping my kids learn life saving skills! read more

I have been taking my daughter to Waterloo for almost a year she always has fun with great teachers. It's a safe a clean place and the staff are always friendly. I will recommend this place for everyone. read more

The kids love this palace. Great teachers, great curriculum, great communication. Best is the kids want to come for swim practice.

Initial state -- happy, brand-new customer Current state (2wks in) -- run away if you read nothing else. Brand-new customer, happy of our choice, the good reviews was what took us there in the first place. Then I got a real taste of this business is run. Child is sick -- hardly the first or last ones in this situation, Called the number -- voicemail said paraphrasing "listen in its entirety to all the other inconvenient options to contact us, because we don't listen to voicemails" So sent an email, went to the location and spoke with the front desk/Operations person --Yarhari. My goal was to understand which options we had so that our kid didn't lose today's class, and how she could be accommodated. The conversation with Yarhari quickly went from "sorry this is the policy we don't do make-ups and we don't credit" to "if you talk to Sara and she wants to help you, that's a conversation between her and you", and "if your kid doesn't come to class we're holding a spot for her so basically we're losing money on her". I understand policy -- I read it as prominently as you made it on the initial agreement. My assumption was this is made to prevent people from abusing the system, but thought they'd be at least a bit flexible to help a customer on a 1-off situation. Clearly zero flexibility, and an extra serving of rudeness and condescension. Maybe it was a bad day for her, but this absolutely not acceptable as treatment to a customer, and in fact speaks awfully about how you run your business. I will allegedly be contacted by "Sara" within 72hrs. Let's see what happens. and BTW - since they worry so much about "losing money" on your child, they will ask you to pay them for a full month if you want to cancel and run away. Run away -- there is this thing customers have. it's called "having options". read more

We've been going to Waterloo for a few months, after being at another swim facility for four years. Waterloo is AMAZING! The facility is great, the pool is clean, and the staff is awesome. A special shout out goes to Ms. Julie who helped get my son back into the groove after being away for three weeks. For some reason he was scared to go to the pool area, so she helped us out by calmly and sweetly working with him until he was in the pool and having a great time like he usually does. Love Waterloo. read more

Both of my boys have attended Waterloo for quite a while now. We started in lessons and now my older son is on one of their year round teams. My younger son is working hard to move up from lessons to team swimming. They really do a great job of coaching the kids and fine tuning their strokes, especially on their competitive teams. From lessons to team swimming it's just a great place to swimmers to develop and work toward their goals. We wholeheartedly recommend Waterloo! read more

Waterloo swimming is the perfect place to take swimming lessons. My granddaughter lives in Dallas and I wanted to give her formal swimming lessons. I only had her for a week and Waterloo was the only facility to help me obtain lessons for Raegan. They were so accommodating and willing to find her a spot! I returned this summer for lessons and they did an evaluation so she could have lesson in a shot time frame. I love the qualified swim coaches that teach the lessons. The facility has the goal of teaching children to swim! Wonderful place! Great employees! read more

I love taking my almost 3 year old daughter here for swim classes. She loves it and I love not having to get in the water with her haha! We go to the new Anderson lane location and it is very clean and nice. Highly recommend! read more

World class facility, dedicated and friendly staff, and safe and clean environment. Never been more motivated to swim!

If I could give them a 10 star I would!!! I got the recommendation to go to Waterloo from a local website (Nextdoor.com). I'd checked around several local places to take my kids and although they all have great reviews I felt that Waterloo was reasonably priced and didn't seem so "babyish" for my 2 boys. I can not express how much I love Waterloo! All of the staff is nice. Everyone is always enthusiastic to teach kids. They really engage them and work with them. But don't over do it. The last 5 minutes of class is kind of fun time for them and they love it! We've had the pleasure of working with Tracie for my youngest son (7 yrs old). She has been so patient with him. He has high functioning Autism so keeping up with him sometimes is hard to do. She lets me know what they're working on and how to explain it to him so he will continue to practice at home. Tracie is perfect. I even hear some of the other parents in the waiting area talking about how much they love her. We've also had the pleasure of working with Preston and Alyssa for my middle son (12 yrs old). He already knows how to swim but needed some help in some areas. They are teaching him so much and he enjoys going. Which for a 12 yr old that didn't want to take lessons is a big deal! I had to bribe him to go for 2 lessons and we've now signed him up for weekly lessons for a month (w/out a bribe!!)! Gwyn is an absolute pleasure to work with. I've chatted with her several times and feel right at home there. Not only is she a business woman she is a very down to earth person that is a joy to be around. I've met her husband Mike once and he was just as nice as everyone there. They are not just a place for my kids to learn how to swim.....they practically feel like family!! read more

Waterloo has been a wonderful experience. Great lessons and great communication. I also see so much progress in my oldest son. He adores Ms Rachel and always wants to be in her class when he moves to the next level. Lol. My toddler is doing great and my infant daughter starts soon. I can not recommend Waterloo enough to families looking for an amazing swim experience. They have something for every age and experience level. read more

You can never make a first impression again, ever. Today I brought my son to Waterloo for a evaluation and I was blown away. Those that know me... That is hard to do. 1. The people were genuinely kind and helpful 2. The swim coaches were gracious, encouraging and thoughtful. 3 The facility was immaculate and tidy and of course wet! Again, Wow and bravo Waterloo, you've got me! read more

Waterloo staff and facility is hands down the best in Austin area. The instructors are awesome and really take their time with the students.

Excellent swim school with dedicated instructors. I am very pleased how both of my sons have progressed on their swimming skills. My 3 year-old has progressed impressively by the patience and dedication of the instructors. I highly recommend Waterloo Swim to anyone looking foe a good swim school for children and adults. read more

The staff and coaches at Waterloo are amazing, especially during this difficult time with COVID-19. They have been keeping us updated with thorough and consistent communication. While they were closed, virtual chats and Zoom dryland meetings were offered plus special guest speakers. This really helped our daughter stay active and feel less isolated. Once they reopened, we had a detailed plan emailed to us, and our daughter's coach even held a Zoom meeting before the first practice to give more instruction and to answer questions. They have put in place several precautions such as temperature taking, review of any new symptoms, staggered exit and entry, swimming no more than 2 swimmers to a lane on opposite ends, and the coaches are wearing masks. Our daughter is so thrilled to be back in the water, and we are so happy to be able to let her go back to the sport she loves while at the same time having peace of mind that she's safe. Thank you Waterloo! read more

I took adult swimming classes here and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. I was fearful of deep pools and lakes. Not anymore. If you're an adult and are interested in taking a class, please be aware that you have to stick with the course for more than a month. Adults get easily discouraged and quit. Never compare yourself to other people in the classes. I can tread, I can swim, and I'm no longer scared of the deep end. I started in January as my New Year Resolution and by June, I was in the deep end. It sounds like a long time, again this is a life skill and everyone goes at their own pace. I moved out of Austin, so I had to stop my classes. Right before I left, we practiced falling in the water and coming up and staying afloat by treading. The instructors worked with me. There were other classmates who wanted to just tread water. Then again they were scared of the deep end. It's like building a house... you need to a good foundation. The instructors are very skilled and will go at your pace. I trusted them with my fear and overcoming my fear. My only con regarding the classes, is there are varying levels of swimmers and sometimes the instructors had difficulty managing the different levels. Overall my experience was great!! read more

I would give this place ZERO if I could! WORST experience ever! Yesterday we went to Waterloo Swimming for an evaluation of my two kids (4 and 7 years old). The instructor got in the water with both of them at the same time. She left my younger one in the water next to the pool side and started swimming with my other. In a second my little one somehow started drowning but neither the instructor nor the deck manager noticed it. My husband and I started banging on the window like crazy, and finally they realized what was going on. The deck manager came to talk to me, but instead of apologizing, she said that accidents like this can happen, and other inappropriate things. Accidents can happen to anyone, but we were there for an evaluation, so they didn't know what my kids swimming level was, and they shouldn't have left my kid by himself. We were lucky just because my husband and I were paying attention, but they, "the professionals", weren't! AVOID THIS PLACE! EDIT: I sent an email to the Operations Manager, and she contacted me promptly. She was nice. read more

My boys (5 and 2ish) are both taking lessons here after a few seasons at Emler and we've been very happy with their progress! Waterloo is not geared towards teaching babies and water safety as much, they focus lessons on actually teaching swimming techniques. Overall I feel like we're getting a better value now and I like the year-round schedule better than the sessions at Emler. The new 620 facility is sooo nice too! They're now offering a free trial class I just heard. Worth checking out if you're looking for swim lessons for the kiddos! read more

I've been taking my daughter here for nearly a year and cannot begin to explain how thrilled I am about her progress. This is a kid who, last summer, refused to put her face in the water and I couldn't coax of the steps. This summer? She jumped off the diving board into 8ft of water and didn't bat an eye. She also knows her limits and asks permission before getting in or trying anything new which is HUGE at only 5 years old. I have so much peace of mind taking her to the pool with her baby brother knowing that if she got herself in trouble, she could get herself out. Love the staff and teachers- always friendly and helpful. Gorgeous facility with a comfortable viewing room. We love it here! read more

We signed my daughter up for lessons with Waterloo and she quickly went from floundering to being able to join the swim team! It was successful, convenient, and most of all fun for her! The team at waterloo is professional and supportive in helping you reach your goals. Wether you want to learn to swim, learn to swim better, stay fit, or even compete in swimming, they have a program and a coach that will meet and/or exceed your expectations. The programs serve kids and adults so I joined the adult Masters program and have had a fantastic experience. Morning, noon and evening workout times allow me to juggle my work/ life schedule and still get in a workout. I enjoy the time spent with my teammates in the pool and can't recommend Coach Brooke enough to others that want to check out swimming as a way to add swim fitness to their routine. read more

After years of doing other sports our son wanted to try swimming and Waterloo was the perfect fit! Stephanie has helped us navigate the process of swim lessons to swim fit to his first swim meet this weekend. He is loving the environment and is so encouraged by all the staff. Thanks Waterloo! read more

I can not say enough positive things about this place. I have a 3 and 4 year old and finally found a place where it was easy to book swim lessons for both of them at the same time at their individual levels. The scheduling was easy and people I met with and spoke to were all so polite and helpful, but the real highlight is the amazing, amazing teachers. My big girl thinks she can swim already and my little guy is afraid to put his head underwater. The teachers keep the kids engaged and laughing and they are gentle and silly AND my kids are learning to swim AND I get to watch it all in a cool room with tables and chairs and huge picture windows. After trying various swim places and teachers this feels just right! read more

I am so glad I found this place. Its an amazing facility with great staff and my daughter loves it. I have seen tremendous progress in her skill and confidence in just a few months. Also love the fact that the waiting area is huge and has wifi to work from here. read more

Great place in terms of facilities, accessibility, instruction levels and email responses. Promotion to next level sometimes is unpredictable. We had a good time. read more