Penguin City Swim

Five stars! After even a few lessons our (5.5 year old) daughter’s comfort and skills in the water dramatically improved. She went from refusing to put her face into the water to diving for rings, jumping in, pushing off the wall, and doing strokes, and best of all, she loves it and is excited to go. Even though the location is not close to where we live, her experience has been so fantastic that it’s worth it to us to travel. They teach all levels, kids to grown-​ups, and I highly recommend them.

I had a lesson with Miles, and I went from an apt swimmer to being entirely prepared for lifeguard certification. Great instruction, would highly recommend to any and all.

I signed up my 3 year old for swimming lessons with some uncertainty as to how beneficial they would be for such a young child. However, I am extremely impressed with my son’s instructor, Dashawn and felt compelled to write this review. Dashawn is not only a skilled swimming instructor, but is very creative and talented in working with very young children. He is somehow able to get my kid quickly into the water and uses toys and props to make it fun so my son is engaged the entire time. I also found the owner, Miles, to be a straight-​talker and easy to work with. Very impressed.

My son signed up with penguin city swim a few month ago and he absolutely loves it. He really enjoys his lessons with Quentin. Miles is vey flexible and accommodating. The school is very well organized and very professional. We will be back for another exciting semester.

My son is 4.5 years old and has been taking lessons for 2 «semesters» and has improved markedly. He is swimming, short distances, but I think it’s great progress. Miles seems to hire very good instructors for children (we take lessons with Quentin and my son loves him), and he himself is extremely easy to work with. We have done lessons with multiple kids, as well as semi private — having all sorts of options is a nice way to progress young kids. My son looks forward to swimming all week.

1year with this swimming school for our 7 year old who was afraid of the water. Well trained and talent instructors who helped my son overcome his fear and he is now swimming on his own. Very amenable management who was willing to work with our family with timing and what was best for our son. Would recommend this swim school to anyone

Great facility! Took a swimming lesson and really enjoyed it. All the children looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Great staff and awesome instructors. Our 5 year old son has learned so much in 3 semesters and is always excited to go to his lesson. He is learning fundamentals of swimming but instructors still manage to make it fun for him. Could not ask for more from a swim school

Miles and his team at Penguin City are wonderful! My daughter is 12 and an advanced swimmer, we were placed with Ben who is really helping her with speed and technique! He is a very experienced coach with knows how to work with kids. My daughter is loving her class and feels like she will really grow here! Everyone here is very nice and the communication with parents is very good! So glad we found them!

Miles and his staff are fantastic. They help you learn the fundamentals of swimming and will work on your problem areas until you get it right. You can’t ask for a better price either. Couldn’t be happier with this class.

I have been afraid of water since I was little — never learnt swimming, and probably haven’t gone into the water for at least ten years. But most recent injury (yea, I’m pretty good at hurting myself accidentally) makes me decide to give swimming a try as a less-​impact cardio. So I scheduled my very first private class.
The owner was very nice, and efficient about scheduling class. I told him about my fear of water; he picked one of his extremely patient instructor to teach me. At the day one, second time I was asked to put my face underwater, I swore I was about to run out of there — part of me just gave up: let’s accept the fact that I would never swim. But I’m so glad that I didn’t. My instructor was super kind and nice; every time when I made a mistake and/​or panic during the exercise, he would calm me down, and ask me each time to think what I did, and why — so every try had a very clear purpose. At the end of hour, I was able to do front and back float with a little bit help — before that day, even sitting in a bathtub makes me uncomfortable.
I would definitely go back to schedule a couple of more private lessons (since it was more efficient to me); and maybe more group classes once I am confident to stay in the water safely by myself. After all, with the confidence and experience of the first class, it’s much easier to convince myself that «maybe it is possible to swim one day.~»
======================update======================
Had my 2^nd class — still very clumsy and pretty. bad (lol) but this time it took me a minute to comfortably «review» the float with my face underwater. Moved on to the beginning of breaststroke arms backstroke arms.
Will have my 3^rd class today. Still nervous; but no longer terrified — more excited.

After a few classes, didnt seem like have any improve, well, i will give it another try, is still the same, will move to other swim school.

As an adult learner, I have a fear of water and absolutely zero skills. I was skeptical of anyone helping me at 25, but decided to give swimming lessons a try. This place is not too far from me, so I scheduled my first class.
The instructors are super patient and infinitely kind. When I wasn’t ready to try something, they though of another way for me to do it. They really meet you at your level, and work with you to learn how to swim at your own pace. At the end of an hour, I went from barely being able to stand in water to paddling with a kick board, my face underwater.
I have tried learning how to swim at least half a dozen times, and always gave up. Penguin Swim is the first time I’ve really wanted to go back, and feel excited and confident that I can do it! Plus the facilities are clean and not crowded!

I began my classes last June with my younger brother (5 years old)
I never learn how to swim so I figure it was about time to start ! So I did, I live in queens so the only con is the location but I made to their locations. Miles (Owner) was great he was so accommodating with the price ! I FINALLY learn how to swim, I need more practice but I’m no longer afraid of WATER ! In regards to my younger brother he still needs more classes but the instructors were so patient with him !
I assure you are will like this classes!

My children absolutely love their swim lessons at Penguin City Swim! We’ve tried other programs but Penguin by far is the best. With small class sizes and dedicated instructors, no matter what level you’re at, you’ll become a successful swimmer. –The Roberts Family

Patient method and wonderful instructors that make learning swimming a breeze — incredible school for first time swimmers of any age especially kids

I never grew up learning how to swim but wanted to get into it so booked my first private adult swimming lesson with Penguin City. The instructor was very friendly and helpful, however :
— the company overbook their instructors so even if you are few minutes late there is no wiggle room b/​c they have their next client right after you
— this pool is located inside an apartment complex building right behind their gym, means after your lesson (when you are in your swimsuit) you have to pass through the gym machines and people working out in order to go to women’s locker room
— women’s locker room has only about 10 lockers so you have to hope that you find an empty locker room. It wasn’t that clean either which kind of turned me off. The room is also very tiny so you barely get enough space to change :(
Overall, the setup of this gym/​pool and ladies locker room kind of gave me a disappointment. I recommend trying other options in the city.

Growing up in NYC and having a parent who didn’t know how to swim, i just never learned. As i’ve gotten older and started to travel i saw how important learning how to swim was. The first time i called Miles to setup a lesson, he was so nice and accommodating. Miles and his staff are great. I had lessons with Chelsea and Ben and they are exceptional instructors.
When i arrived for my first lesson i was so nervous and embarrassed. Chelsea made me feel comfortable. Now every time i go to a lesson i’m excited to learn something new. I’ve made great progress. I feel comfortable in the water and see myself swimming in the ocean soon.
Since i have a set day and time for my lessons, i’ve been able to observe how great they are with teaching children. The kids during my time block always look like they are having fun and and the few kids will a little more anxiety, the instructors are so patient and are able to get them in the water learning. i’ve seen great progress in the kids too
This has been a great experience and i’m happy ive made the decision to learn.

I never learned how to swim as kid and decided it was finally time. I wasn’t quite ready to commit to full series of classes at other swim schools, so when I saw this as a Groupon for 2 classes, I thought I’d give it a try and give swimming a chance.
Going into my first class, I didn’t know anything about swimming. I always thought if I needed to, i could survive in water, and I can hold my breath for a while, but beyond that, not so much. My «swimming» was really just struggling to stay above water a move a little for a few seconds.
Even after the first lesson, I started to feel way more confident in the water and could actually move in the water in a coordinated way! I’ve had about 10 lessons now and I feel comfortable with crawl/​freestyle, breaststroke, elementary backstroke, and a little backstroke. Last weekend I swam laps on my own with breaststroke, and am feeling pretty good about freestyle now, too. Every lesson I really progress thanks to the great instructors.
Miles is really supportive and observant of everyone’s progress, which is great. The instructors vary in style and personality, but they are all good teachers. One is even a former Olympian! Like another review said, it’s a chill setup so you can schedule classes a few at a time or sign up for the whole session.
I work in Hell’s Kitchen but live in Park Slope, so I wish the classes were closer to my apartment but the quality is worth the commute.

I’m pretty comfortable in the water and in the deep end as well. I also love playing in the water but I just never got to a real cross stroke swim and could not do it in fact. Miles is cool and make everyone feel comfortable in the water and helps ppl progress. The lessons cover the basics of everything: breathing, kicking, breast stroke, cross stroke, and everyone’s problem of why we all sink and what to do to prevent it. This is something that will take time to get down and from the times I’ve gone I have progressed a good amount in now being able to swim. I definitely still need work but at least I can glide across the water ok now.
I’d recommend it for any newbies and they got private lessons as well for adv folks or those not comfortable around others. Environment is pretty laid back and ppl that come in the group lessons are pretty chill as well. I also like the schedule where it’s not a set whole 2 – 3 month commitment, but rather it’s almost whenever you want to come per one class.