We are always looking to expand and grow the business to cater for all ages and abilities. However, due to the sizes of most of our pools (12m), SwimWay specialises in lessons for younger, beginner/developing swimmers. Children aged 3 months – 6 years, up to stage 3 or 4 forms our demand. This means we have to enforce some booking restrictions for our lessons.
Older Children
We do teach some older, more advanced swimmers, usually up to around 8 or 9 years, working towards stages 5-7. While diving/distance/endurance training is limited, these students can still work on technique development and stroke correction. However, we will always keep our clients aware of any restrictions we have when it comes to the children’s progression.
Procedures & Communication
We specify multiple times on the SwimWay website the sizes of each pool, and what kind of booking restrictions apply. In addition to this, we highlight these restrictions on all email communication. We will also contact any clients who may have restrictions applied before they rebook for the following term. At this point, we provide the information they need to make an informed decision on their future bookings with us. Students who fall under any booking restrictions will need to meet one of the following requirements:
- Their child continues in the lessons with their current partner
- The client sources a child of the same age/stage to swim with their child
- The client books private lessons
If their existing partner doesn’t rebook, we honour their 1:2 booking until the end of the 2nd scheduled lesson. Still no partner by then? We will once again offer one of the above options. If still unsuitable, we will provide a refund for the remaining lessons.
We continue to keep up communication with any affected clients to ensure they are fully informed of the procedures. It is important for us to continue to keep our clients updated, offering as many solutions as possible.
Client Frustration
These procedures can be frustrating for clients who have swum with us for years and wish to continue. This is why we try to be transparent and upfront about limitations that come with learning in a smaller environment. Due to this communication and clarity, we encounter very few problems. Many clients simply join a different class time with a student in a similar scenario. Many thank us for putting their child’s progress first and move to a larger pool.
Future Possibilities
We are working towards being able to offer a larger facility that can cater to our older/more advanced students! These children would then be able to simply move to a larger SwimWay pool to continue their progression with us.
Ultimately, we do not wish to lose any students. We would love to continue to see our children progress towards our higher stages, and onto swimming club level. We value this progression above all else. If we feel that we cannot fuel your child’s development any longer, we will ensure you are informed.
That’s it! We hope this helps to explain our booking procedures and restrictions a little more. For more information…