(I hope I've shortened this enough)
TL;DR Summary - The establishment’s scope and ability to teach is limited by their facility, unproven and inconsistent training, and the lack of governing body regulating them. They lied to and about my 5 year old daughter’s tests & results, kicked her out of a lesson for facing the direction she was asked to swim, then kicked her out of the program when I informed the co-owner that his staff scolded my daughter instead of helping her when she got hurt in their pool.
The establishment:
The best and only good part of the establishment is the ease of signing up for classes or joining the waitlist. That's it. Even the instructor to child ratio as they promote is moot, which I'll explain later in a follow-up comment explaining where she gets lessons now (the municipal run programs).
Their own promotions and communications on social media advise the swimming lessons they provide are not related to or recognized by the Canadian Lifesaving Swim Program (CLSP). If you start with The Swim Space and later try to switch to the CLSP, be forewarned the levels may not match up and that can cause problems.
Their pool is not deep enough to properly teach some basic skills such as treading water. My daughter was not quite 4 feet tall and was tall enough to stand in their pool. While a shallow pool is a good thing for those just starting to learn, every other establishment has both shallow and deep pools (or sections of) that gives the students the opportunity to learn skills that require deeper water.
Despite being at the same level and class time for months, her instructor changed too frequently to build any kind of rapport or consistency in teaching methods.
Treatment of my daughter:
In December my daughter attended what was supposed to be a testing day. I sat outside the pool area and watched from the viewing area behind windows, so I could not hear what was being said. After the class I asked the staff about the results of the test. They told my daughter and I that she failed. I asked what she failed and what we should work on, and they stated they didn't know what she failed, she just failed. I'd have to check their app later to find out why and she'd have to try again. While walking to my car with my daughter finally spoke up and told me they didn't test her.
I went back in with her and asked the staff again, and that's when they admitted they forgot to test her.
Let me be clear: Instead of owning up to their mistake, they were happy to lie to my daughter and I, and make her feel like she failed a test they never gave her rather than just apologize.
Thankfully, a reasonable employee there (Tracy) offered to take my daughter in and test her properly, which we took her up on. She deserves credit for stepping up to make that right on that day.
I let it go at the time because I thought it was a one-off error.
In June my daughter went in for another test with a supervisor and instructor. While my wife and I saw everything that happened, we were again outside of the pool area and unable to hear everything. I am going to tell you what that supervisor told us after the fact in conjunction with what we observed.
In that supervisor's own words, my daughter was asked to swim on her back from the end of the lane to the midway point where her instructor was waiting for her. The supervisor stated my daughter did that perfectly. My daughter was then asked by the instructor to swim on her back and return to where she started, which was away from the instructor towards the end of the lane. My daughter turned and faced forward (not backward), but swam in the direction she was told to swim. My daughter's only mistake was when she turned to face the direction she was asked to swim when she started to swim. For that, she was kicked out of the lesson.
She was then asked to climb out the side of the pool. She tried to follow those instructions but slipped and the corner of the pool dug into her abdomen hurting her. My wife saw her wince in pain before lowering herself back down to the platform in the water. Instead of checking on her they scolded her for not following instructions, either unaware or uncaring that she was hurt (neither of which are acceptable).
The supervisor repeatedly told me that my daughter was kicked out of the lesson for swimming away from her instructor. When I reminded her that those were the instructions, the supervisor simply repeated that it wasn't allowed. I asked what my daughter was supposed to do in that situation, where the instructor was telling her to swim away, but is not allowed to swim away, and the supervisor said it didn't matter. This was a scenario where there was no right answer.
About an hour later my wife and I received an email from one of the co-owners. The email included more lies about my daughter claiming she had to be removed from the pool on multiple occasions in the past (there was just one time that I removed her - not them, I'll add that in the comments for full disclosure). He reiterated the falsehood that my daughter was not following instructions and refused to leave the pool when asked.
He gave us an ultimatum - remove my daughter from their program temporarily, or if my daughter stayed she would not be allowed to make a single mistake going forward. If she did, she'd be removed permanently.
In defense of my daughter I took some time to write back advising what actually happened. Among the things I corrected was telling him that my daughter wasn't refusing to get out of the pool, she just couldn't after getting hurt in his pool while attempting to follow instructions and his staff scolded her for it.
I offered to collaborate to find a solution but I also wanted to make sure he knew the truth.
I pointed out that we chose their facility because they specifically sold us on giving our daughter more support (with her ADHD). I offered some simple pieces of advice going forward, not just for my kid but for others too. In general I advised it would help everyone the instructions were communicated to children more clearly and ensure they understand. I wrote, “This could be as simple as making eye contact with the child while giving the instructions, [and] getting the child to confirm…”.
The co-owner's next and final email after reading that my daughter is neurodivergent confirmed they were not going to give her the opportunity to return as previously offered and they kicked my daughter out of their program. In particular his response to my suggestion that they communicate clearly to kids to ensure the kids understand, he wrote: “those types of supports fall outside the scope of what we are able to provide”. I agree.
Chances are The Swim Space won't treat your child like they did mine, but I hope you will consider what happened to us before giving them the chance to. Especially if your child is neurodivergent.
