CLIFTON PARK — A new opportunity for kids to learn to swim will be coming to Clifton Park this summer. Goldfish Swim School, which has a location in Colonie, will be opening a school in the North Country Commons in Clifton Park.
Goldfish Swim School offers year-round swimming lessons to kids ranging from four months to 12 years old. They also offer family swims, party packages, and more.
“We want to make it convenient and easy for families to get their kids into regular, high-quality swim lessons at a place like Goldfish,” said Courtney Richardson, operations manager for the Colonie and Clifton Park locations.
Clifton Park was selected as the company’s second Albany-area location, with Richardson saying this is due to the large number of families in the area.
“Given the success of our Goldfish Swim School Colonie location, it made sense for us to add an additional learn-to-swim facility to serve more families in the community,” said Richardson. “We know that Clifton Park and Saratoga County families want to make sure that their kids learn to swim, as it is a critical life skill.”
The company will be constructing a 25 by 68-foot pool in their location at the Commons. The total space is 6,800 square feet, Richardson said. The pool will be heated to 90 degrees, and is large enough to accommodate multiple lessons at once.
Students work with “highly-trained instructors,” in small class sizes, Richardson said. Families can enroll in the lessons at any time.
The school will also have an air-conditioned viewing room for parents, as well as a snack bar and retail shop. There will be private changing rooms and a blow-dry station for swimmers, Richardson said.
Students are sorted into classes based on their skill level. Goldfish begins with caregiver/baby classes for children starting at four months old. The company also has a recreational swim team, Swim Force.
“Because we use a perpetual model versus sessions, students process through our curriculum at their own pace, and they can move to the next level of classes at the same lesson time slot when they have mastered the skills in their current lesson level,” said Richardson.
Richardson said Goldfish not only allows kids to learn to swim, but helps them build life skills and connections with fellow students and instructors.
“Swimming is an essential life skill. All kids need to learn how to be safer in and around the water,” Richardson said. “However, kids learn so much more at Goldfish Swim School. ...Ultimately, Goldfish is a place that both kids and parents want to come to each week while kids put in the repetition and practice to learn this critical life skill.”
