Owner-operator, Sharol Preisser sits in the pool room at SafeSplash Swim School, 4151 E. Colfax. The school offers a new option for parents looking for swimming lessons before summer.

Summer is just around the corner and NE residents have a new option for kids’ swimming lessons. SafeSplash Swim School at 4151 E. Colfax offers children 6 months and older a place to learn in classes with a maximum of four students, or in private or semi-private lessons. Owner-operator Sharol Preisser also operates a SafeSplash program at the 24-Hour Fitness in Lowry.

“We group children primarily by skill level,” says Preisser. “We try to keep the age range in each class within two to three years. If we have a child that is a little older, but still a beginner, we put them in classes for older kids that are just learning to swim so it’s not awkward for them to be with younger kids.”

“When we first get a child in class, it takes a couple of weeks to assess their abilities,” Preisser says. “If they have been placed in a class that’s inappropriate to their skill level, we’ll move them. If a child is more successful in a class than the rest of the students, we may move the child to a class of students who are at a higher level, but many times the parents don’t want to move them because the teacher and the child get along so well.

“Sometimes all the children in a class progress at the same level and we just make the class a higher level for all of them. We like to keep the instructor as consistent as possible. The same instructor teaches the same class week after week.”

Park Hill resident and SafeSplash instructor, Andrew Le Vasseur works with youngsters in the pool.

Parents keep up on their children’s swimming progress with a monthly Show and Tell period at the end of a class. The teacher works with the child to show the parents what has been learned, what they are working on and what will come next, and parents can ask questions of the instructor. 

 “Some people are looking to get their kids water-safe and proficient enough that if they fell in a pool or lake they would be able to get themselves out of the water,” Preisser says. “And, we have some who want their kids to be on a swim team for fun or fitness or for more competition. 

“At junior levels, everybody needs to learn the same thing–floating, breathing and arm movement. The kids will be in upper level classes to learn to be competitive. We have instructors who are more coach-oriented, and we have instructors who are more focused on recreational swimming. We group those kids together.”

SafeSplash has 20 instructors who have had several years of swim instruction experience. 

At six months old, children start in parent-tot classes. At age three they move into private or semi-private classes.

Adults can also find classes at SafeSplash. “We have four adults in a class,” Preisser says. “Some have no swim background and some swim but want to compete in a triathlon.”

SafeSplash has classes from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, and Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

For information, go to: www.safesplash.com/location/denver-co-park-hill.

Call 303-799-1885 to register or email: moreinfo@safesplash.com.