We havent returned to a lot yet with the pandemic, but we did start back with swim lessons. My son look forward to his lessons every week! The classes are small, they have taken ALL the precautions and we feel so safe coming each week!It is amazing to watch my son progress each week. The instructors are patient and kind.I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to do swim lessons. It is so much fun for them, and a safe environment.

A GREAT place for your kids to learn to swim!!The team of instructors and pool side staff like Portia and Madison are incredible. We were so lucky to have Corey push our little one to his potential!We were very hesitant to do swim school at all during this time. Goldfish was the obvious choice when we decided to go forward. Their website has great video explanations regarding COVID mitigation measures, and signing up was a breeze.Class size is limited to three swimmers per instructor, and they continuously evaluate and assess skills proficiency. We could not be happier with our family’s experience with Goldfish Swim School of Columbia.Little man gives it a thumbs up!!

I worked for them for about a year. They are very kind and understanding employers. They treat there lifeguards/swim instructors with respect. Hope the business is still doing well through the Covid pandemic.

Love the friendliness of ALL the staff, the user friendly portal that makes it easy to reschedule, the precautions youre taking related to COVID, the enthusiasm of your teachers, the teaching style that makes my kids excited for every swim lesson

We enjoy bringing our children to your swim school. My daughter has started at the glider level and now is on the waiting list for team force. My son was terrified of the water and just last week, he mastered going under the water to grab the ring. We love the techniques you use to get the kids comfortable in the water.

Its reopened and has just been brilliant for getting the kids back into swimming. They are so careful about the covid situation whilst still being hugely welcoming, Ive been really impressed. My little 3yr old is a bit of a handful - the staff have been really patient with her; meanwhile my son is learning new technique and skills that used to challenge him. Both love Goldfish. Id heartily recommend it.

I am very happy to be a part of the goldfish family, my daughter enjoys every class. All the staff are amazing! Thank you for your patience and all you do to keep everyone safe. thanks,

Such a clean and cute location. The staff is so nice and welcoming. My 8 year old’s confidence skyrocketed after just a few months and my littlest one loves the parent and baby classes!

Excellent swim school with amazing staff who truly care for and encourage young swimmers. The COVID re-opening plan has been safe and managed very well. I really appreciate all that the Goldfish Columbia team has done to safely re-open and let our little one swim again!

“My husband and I love that their process to get the swimmers and parents in is easy and fast. I feel safe and our daughter loves that she is able to continue with her swim classes. We also love that all staff members are friendly and helpful.„

I drive 45 minutes away from home to bring my children to Goldfish Swim. The staff are awesome, the teachers are patient and really have helped my kids work through their fear of water. They love coming and adore their teacher Mr. Isaiah!

We loved Goldfish before COVID, but since theyve opened up Im even more impressed. They have handled everything with safety in mind, and we have no worries at all. Our family is so glad to be back!

Excellent, cheerful and professional staff! Kevin’s really connected with Isaiah! I’m loving your COVID precautions! I feel safe! So excited my baby learned how to swim!

I am so impressed about your process and how you keep everyone safe. This will be our 5th year with Goldfish... I just love it and my girl loves it even more

Horrific customer service. The most unhelpful manager I have ever encountered in a business. Her problem solving skills are that of an infant aka nonexistent. Her staff is even worse. If you want to be spoken to like a child, then this is the place for you to go. I literally had some young lady tell me WE are not gonna be swimming today when I became understandably upset that I am expected to change my daughter IN THE TRUNK OF MY CAR, as she is not yet toilet trained and needs to wear a diaper until she gets out of her car seat. The WE language is the language I use with my toddler (WE dont throw our food on the floor, honey.). To hear that from someone whose job is to sign kids in is unbelievable. Of course, with a bad manager as a boss, this employee will not be written up or even just instructed to refrain from using such language. To think that THIS is the treatment customers receive who pay a big chunk of money for 2 hours per month is disgusting.

Goldfishs swim instructors and staff are attentive, kind, and patient with my 4 year old! The facility is an organized, safe, and fun environment for kiddos to learn important skills. GSC is worth the investment!

My one year old daughter, my husband and I attended a cousins birthday party from 4pm to 6pm and had an AMAZING experience. Everything was quite organized. Plenty of space and a clean environment. The pool was well maintained and had an appropriate lifeguard to child ratio. There were plenty of bathrooms and changing areas. They even had a hair drying station! Really great party and experience in general. I cannot wait to host a party for my own child!

I just put my son in swimmg classes and im impressed, he enjoys going to his swim class. He is a new beginnier and is inbthe junior 1.

As always the staff here is a loving,caring,and supportive team. They do their best to make sure everyone is happy and stay healthy. With the support of Goldfish team our little one is growing with every class

My child is thriving at Goldfish Columbia. Shes learned more in 2 months here than in the two years we wasted @ CA. The staff is always extremely professional.

We had complained about a situation with an instructor that didnt meet our standards and management not only listened and responded properly and politely, but also, manager Ana took the time throughout the entire lesson from when we entered the pool area to attend to my one son, to make him comfortable again in his lessons. She took him from crying hysterically (and he has never cried in the past year of lessons) to participating and actually laughing. It took one lesson with an instructor that made him fear the water, to one lesson with a teacher and manager that made him feel comfortable again. Im thankful for the time taken to actually make my son comfortable again in a setting that he has always loved!

We love Goldfish! The teachers are so awesome, especially David. We attend the Mini 1 class on Tuesdays with him. I know how important swim safety is, so our hope our son can learn to swim sooner rather than later. Thanks for helping our child feel comfortable in the water each week! The front desk staff is kind and helpful as well.

I love the ease of rescheduling the classes when we are unable to make it. The online portal is great and the staff is always so friendly when I call. My daughter loves the swim lessons and we often stay a little after the lesson so she can play and watch the fish swim.

They will find a way to help your kids learn to swim, flexibility in schedule and have fun. Sometimes their schedules are tight for makeup lessons, but they will adapt the classes to split teach across levels. Great swim school experience.

Highly Disappointed! The staff is great but the ability to teach kids is not there. My son, who is 4, was with Goldfish in Columbia for over a year. He could not advance past Junior 2. I believe this is due to the student to teacher ratio. 1 teacher for 4 students is too much and this is for 30 minutes. Therefore, each student receives approximately 7.5 minutes of a lesson. Not to mention my son was not being taught out to tread water or basic life saving skills. After being stuck for over a year, we decided to try out Mrs. Pearls Swim School and we are so much happier. After 6 lessons, the same son who was stuck at Junior 2, is able to swim from side to side in the pool, tread water, float comfortably, jump in the pool and turn around to the edge, and swim down to the bottom of a 4ft pool to retrieve items. I was also disappointed in the cleanliness and overall state of Goldfish. They close for a week every couple of months and I would expect they take this time for cleaning and repair but that is not the case. The facility was just as dirty for the first lesson after being closed for a week. Definitely not expected from a place that makes approximately $2,400 per hour (approx. 12 lanes, $25/per student per lane, 4 students to a lane).

Yesterday day was a shock to all of goldfish. Thank you to Mr David Ms Portia and Mr Brian for assisting the young lady. I feel safe knowing those three are top notch. Give them a raise and, a couple of days off they DESERVE IT !

Clean, neat and organized. Plenty of changing rooms. Classes are well structured.

Good teachers, clean facility.

The water was not 90 degrees and my little one was cold. But my child enjoys the class and I love our instructor, David Trent. He is very caring and he is great with the kids. I encourage anyone looking at Goldfish to sign up for his classes.

The previous reviewer chad ellis wrote exactly what i wanted to. The facility is good but the time factor sucks. They advertise it as 30 min class but its actually 30 mins divided among 4 students. Each student gets no more than 7 mins of instructuon and while they are working on one student, the other 3 just sit and wait for their turn. And guess what, they call you to pick up the kids 5 mins before the session ends. For $112 a month, its not worth it. Id rather pay $45 for 30 mins of private tutoring.

Love it here! My daughter just had her 4th class and seems to be progressing. Its a great, happy, upbeat environment where you can tell everyone who works their loves their jobs.

Its important that my son learn water safety skills.Weve attended Swim Schools all over and none offered this simple task of practicing climbing out of the pool without assistance. Frankly this could be the difference between life and death for a toddler should they fall in.

Wonderful place for kids! Friendly staff! Great communication with parents!

The front desk staff is so unprofessional. Came in for a regular lesson and needless to say I Didnt feel that WOW Custer service. One of the ladies behind the desk smelled of weed. No maganger ever corrected her. I sure hope you drug test your employees as it states in your policy. Goldfish is going downhill. The instructors in the pool are awesome, friendly, and great with the kids. Not sure what the issue is or whats going on but its no reason I should smell that pungent odor at a kids swim school. Hopefully management will correct this issue if not we will have to withdraw from lessons.

Our daughter enjoyed this place for a year, and the teachers were great. However, as she advanced, the teachers began to rotate almost weekly and the lessons became inconsistent. She had a couple bad experiences testing out of her last class and has since refused to get back in the water. We thought she was just scared of drinking a little water, but she explained that she was really upset that she didnt know who her teacher would be from week to week. This was a fair response from a 3.5 yr old, so after trying to get her back on track for a month or more without success weve decide to cancel our membership.Update: Goldfish was very responsive and immediately reached out to try to make things right. They refunded us for the missed classes and waived the 30 day cancellation notice. Our daughter is taking a break from lessons for a couple of months until shes comfortable again, and then we plan to come back here.

There are not enough positive things I can say about Goldfish. My daughter was initially terrified to go underwater. The teacher went slow and built up an incredible amount of trust with her. Now she is not only going underwater, but within a month of weekly lessons has gone up a level and is quickly working to go up another level. Not only is the staff there excellent, the support staff and the facilities are also top notch! I can’t imagine another place more qualified to teach a child to swim and love the water.

At least once a week this pool is closed. Its always vomit, Diarrhea, or something else. Today they were canceled because of glass in the pool. Sounds scary and unsafe. Just a stream of constant issue. This is about the second or third time glass has been found in the pool.

Both of my local grandchildren started swimming lessons as terrified as children can be. They didn’t want to go under water or get their faces wet. The 3 year old cried for weeks. We persevered as suggested by the staff. They are both swimming 9 months later and moving through the levels. Watching them swim this weekend and enjoy my brother’s pool was wonderful.

Tried twice this week to call and inquire about swim classes for my son as I am looking to enroll him. I am disappointed no one got back to me in a timely manner considering I expected better service given the glowing reviews online. If this is my first experience I’m hesitant to move forward considering my frustrations on having to keep calling .

Everyone is so friendly and positive, my kids are learning quickly and swimming very well, and I love how flexible the school is regarding cancellations, make-ups, and rescheduling. I also appreciate the cleanliness and space of the facility. Having tables to eat at, books available for the kids, and the coloring pages is a great added bonus that we enjoy very much.

The staff is incredible in seeing each child as an individual who may and will react to not only the pool but the class set up differently. My son was immediately comfortable with the class set up but my younger daughter has taken some time to get used to not only not having a parent in class with her, but also waiting and taking turns with other classmates. Goldfish staff members have worked so great with her to help her stay occupied and comfortable while in class and have put our mind at ease as we watch from the other side of the glass

The scheduling, helpful staff & nice trainers

Excellent swim school. Classes structured well and both my kids learned to swim well and enjoyed the lessons. The ribbons that were given out after each lesson and the toys from the front desk were extra motivators.

In March it will be one year since we started coming to Goldfish Swim School. We absolutely love it there! My kids look forward to going to swim lessons every week. Both of my kids have improved tremendously since they first started swim lessons. Over the course of time they have both moved up multiple levels. Weve experienced many different teachers and they truly all have been great. What we love most is how friendly every staff member is and how fun they make the lessons. They encourage the kids with lots of positivity and motivation and have lots of learning tools that make it fun for young ones. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to enhance their childrens swimming as well as a fun & healthy weekly activity for their kids!

I absolutely love this swim school. They are awesome. My year old son learned to hold his breath and go under water with in a month. He is so comfortable in the water now because of goldfish. The staff is awesome and so personal. They greet my son and I by our names. They are great with all ages. I cancelled at one point to to to the YMCA because it was cheaper and that was the worst decision I made. Goldfish teaches kids to enjoy the water, water safety and of course how to swim. Goldfish is a great place for kids to lean how to swim and worth every dime.

The instructors are very engaged with the students and theres a high-5 for every little and big accomplishment. My son, who wouldnt even get his head wet in the shower, on the first lesson went underwater and came up with a huge smile. After five lessons, we went on vacation, and he was swimming all by himself, under water, about 8-10 feet at a time. He loves it so much that he cries when lessons are over, even though his are an hour long and he is only 3! The facility is clean, warm, and the staff is very friendly, greeting us at the door and checking in with us at the end of each lesson to see how it went. Plus, the class sizes are perfect; each child gets some water time and also time on the side to observe and learn from what the other students are doing.

The instructors and staff at Goldfish Swim School are always so positive and patient with our son. They allow him to go at his own pace with different skills and help him to feel confident in his abilities. We love Goldfish Swim School!

My son loves your facility and loves the teachers. Hes learned so much since starting lessons. Im especially impressed on the focus on technique. The facility is well maintained, and the humidity is perfect for little kids climbing in and out of the pool. The customer service is fantastic. My son is always greeted with a smile.

I have been very impressed with the instructors ability to get my 3 year old son to focus and listen. When he moved up to the Junior 1 class I was immediately impressed with the way the instructor was able to get him to fearlessly jump in and paddle and kick with his face in the water! All the staff are kind and encouraging, even when the lifeguards are reminding kids to sit safely on the side of the pool they do it with a smile and high-five!

Im not sure we can say that we dislike ANYTHING about Goldfish. The front desk staff is incredibly helpful and kind, even taking an active interest in my baby and our family. The teachers really work on her individual skills and teach us tricks and tips as parents to help her grow and continue to progress. The facilities are clean, the activities are fun, and not gonna lie, its awesome to go into a tropical paradise once a week in the middle of winter . We love EVERYTHING about Goldfish!

Was very happy when my daughter was in the mini 2 class but she moved up to mini 3 and im extremely diaappointed. Paying alot of money for my daughter to be in the pool 5 out of the 30 min class. And at the end of class the instructor wants to have a personal conversation with another mom that was her friend instead of giving us feedback on my child... and this was MY childs first lesson with the instructor and the mini 3 class. Not very happy at all... ready to cancel

Great place. They teach young kids to swim and they do it well. Multiple classes happen at a time, each divided by lane. There are 2-4 kids in each class, and the kids will have the same teacher each week.Beautiful facilities, with multiple changing rooms, multiple bathrooms, and a great waiting area for parents outside of the pool. Theres a glass wall between the pool and the parent waiting area, so you can still see your young one but arent in the hot, humid, loud pool area.

Bought 6months package, they offered free family swim, but they are cancelling family swim on weekends or they are getting full.. not at all happy with this, it’s kind of marketing technique. They are offering the package but not allowing members to use the facility to the extent. :-(

“THIS SCHOOL IS GREAT!!! THE TEACHERS ARE EXCELLENT. TEACHERS TREAT AND TEACH THE KIDS WONDERFULLY,WITH RESPECT AND UNIQUE ATTENTION INDIVIDUALLY FOR EACH KIDS.„

We loved this place when we first join, the staff were nice and friendly and always helpful, weve been keep recommending this place to our friends and at least 5 of them joined together with us. But recently their front desk staff just became very arrogant and rude. The policies are not consistent and not kids friendly. We tried to switch our make up session right after I found it was conflict with our calendar, witch Ive done before for no problem for 3 years, and suddenly it was a definitely NO answer with the staff indicating it is the policy, but we just switched another makeup session like 2 weeks ago. Very confused and disappointed. We definitely wont be back and would never recommend this place to anyone anymore.

We love how organized the entire process is -- you have it down to an art! The teachers are wonderful, provide encouragement, fun and excellent feedback, and we love the facility. Additionally, my kids enjoy the weekly prize, and sometimes when they arent in the mood to come to swim after being in school all day, we remind them of that prize basket, and it always does the trick!

The instructors are great and very patient with little kids. Warm pool is great. Lots of individual changing rooms. Overall, a great experience and would recommend this place for all kids of any swimming level.

Love how patient the staff is and how they answer all questions without hesitation. My daughter is very fearful of water in her face and it does take some time for her to get comfortable. But the instructor took his time with her and she ended up laying on her back in the water which is a big step. :)

We love Goldfish Swim School! My daughter didnt know how to swim when we started in October, and now here we are 7 months later and shes a little fish! She has so much confidence when swimming and I feel so much better knowing she has the skills to safely navigate the pool when summer comes! Thank you Goldfish and especially her teacher Michelle!

My daughter loves going to swim class. The instructors give feedback each session and are very patient with the kids. Its also easy to ask to change schedules (they offer classes as late as 7:30pm), which I have done numerous times.

I love this swim school. We used to go to another swim school that was a little cheaper, but I can tell y its cheaper. The teacher r amazing, they listen to parents concerns and they are amazing with the kids. Every kid I c coming in is excited to swim. The class sizes r small. Class sizes are very small, 3 kids in a class. Im so happy we found this place.

Goldfish is an excellent swim school!! It has very caring & nurturing staff and teachers. Kids enjoy themselves and learn very well. It is a very fun learning environment for both kids and adults alike. Thank you Goldfish for being such a great swim school!! :)

Great staff, great coaches and mentors. Kids love to go to your facility, the ambience, the ribbon, the goddie at the end. The coaches provide great feedback and are motivating. Above all as a parent, I love that the facility has parent self dispensing candy jars with payment accountability on us...which makes me feel as a part of the family. Please let us know how we could provide appreciation to your great staff.„

The teachers are amazing. They really make my children excited to continue learning and to look forward to their lessons every weekend. Weve loved Mr. David, Ms. Imani and Ms. Kaila. Weve had so much more success with getting my kids comfortable in water than we had through county swim lessons.

The instructors are very experienced and friendly and do a great job with the kids; the staff is very helpful. They have a lot of class options, which is great for us since we need to find a time with an appropriate lesson for both of our kids. Their policy for rescheduling works well for us.The facility itself is top-notch, with a heated pool, showers, changing rooms, an area where people can sit and watch the lessons, and an area where kids can play while waiting for the lesson to start, which has books, coloring supplies, chalk and chalkboards, and tanks with turtles and fish. They also have machines to spin-dry bathing suits, as well as hair dryers, available for free to members. Its a stress-free and easy experience even while wrangling two young kids.It is quite expensive, but in this case I have to say that its worth the money given the quality and the breadth of options and services provided.

Our family loves and highly recommends Goldfish Swim School in Columbia, MD. Both of my children have been taking classes there for the past few months and I have seen so much progress in both of them. The staff is friendly and professional, and the facility is clean. The warm water and decor is perfect for little swimmers. My oldest daughter has been telling us for years that she wants to be on a swim team some day, so were very excited for the swim team to be formed just in time for her to be ready.

We were swimming at Goldfish a few years AGO. And we just came back to this location. But at the last swimming lesson I couldnt make it. I wanted them to make a makeup lesson for me and we still had 15 days until our membership ended, but they still said nothing available! They offered a group lesson but still charge for private lesson price. We at least wanted our one lessons money back since they cant reschedule. And also we told them at July there was a lesson we couldnt make and they promised us that they would reschedule it. But they said no today. And the management wasnt good.

We have tried other places that offered swim lessons and this is by far the best

The staff is friendly. Sessions and programs are well organized. Safety is a priority and the facilities are always clean.

The little one enjoyed his first swim

Good place for kids to learn to be comfortable with water but not enough time for my kid to swim, the pool is so cut up so much my four year old only gets to swim 2 or 3 times his own body length at a time! My child is only in the water swimming 10 minutes a class!If you want your child to learn a stroke chose a different place.Nice waiting room and a kind staff just not enough instruction for my child to learn how to swim.

Staff are friendly and the system they have to teach it worked for both of my children and they did great job.

I love that the lessons are methodical. The instructors are encouraging, positive, and engaging. The entire staff is always a pleasure to interact with.

Goldfish has been the most wonderful, encouraging experience. I have 2 little fish who not only now love the water, but are swimming way beyond my expectations

Love the small classes and beautiful decor of the swim school.

Very nice and patient staff. They know their students by name. My now 2 year old has been coming since he was 6 Mo and absolutely loves the water and his teacher!

Signed up my daughter for swimming classes because my friend told me they were great. First of let me tell you this, when we arrived nobody showed us anything or where anything was. Thy ignored me and took costumers that were there after me. My daughter was in the beginner class with Miss Imani, she was very nice but through out the whole 3 months I had my daughter in her classes my daughter didn’t learn anything. She wasn’t teaching them anything but same drills every single week. I understand there’s different teachers that are soft, but what I don’t understand is why can’t they put effort into actually finding ways to get our kids to learn something and put effort into them. This last week my daughters normal teacher was out for the day so they had a replacement, and let me tell y’all this this substitute teacher accomplished more with my daughter than last 3 months she was with miss Imani. My daughter was actually enjoying herself and learning. I paid 100 dollars every single month for 3 months and they didn’t teach my daughter anything but to get a little comfortable in the water. I tried talking to the manager about my concern, all he said was he can switch her over to a different class and I would still have to pay another 100 dollars for the cancelation fee but there was no concern in his voice but more concern about money.

The teachers have been amazing and worked miracles with my kids. I love Goldfish swim school!

We LOVE goldfish. Amazing staff, great atmosphere, child centered, convenient layout and fun. We love the extra toys, prize gifts, slides, and floating ducks. My son has learned so much already. He lights up when we arrive and never wants to leave. We are going to have his birthday here too! Thank you Goldfish Swim School Columbia!

We had an awesome time super friendly and helpful staff.

Very annoyed by the customer service. I just joined and was very excited to take the kids to the family swim to check out the pool and meet some of the guests with my family. I have two kids and its a production getting them ready and out this way. When I showed up here was a sign saying it was cancelled. We just signed up last week with goldfish and I called the day before to ask them questions about the family swim. They should have told me. We planned our whole day around this. Not a good first impression especially considering the amount of money we are paying.

My grandson loves Goldfish Swim School in Columbia. The staff is very helpful, the facility is beautiful and very clean and the instruction program is engaging and fun!

I absolutely LOVE gold fish school Owings Mills location!!!!! My experience here has been wonderful. My children are 8 and 6. When they started here they were terrified of water being anywhere near there face. The staff work with the kids at the pace that they are most comfortable. My children love it here!!!!! They were swimming within 1 month of being here. I wouldn’t recommend wby other place!!!! The staff is very friendly and the facility is very clean and kid friendly. There is a nice waiting area where u can sit and watch your children through a glass window. Please come check goldfish Owings Mills out!!!!!!!

We had an absolutely horrible experience at the Goldfish swim school in Columbia location. Unprofessional staff, inconsistent policies that are not followed which resulted in frustrated child that had to be pulled out of the water in the middle of the class in tears due to management that was completely unsupportive and arrogant. I will never rerun and will never recommend it to anyone! Take your money and find a real deal.

Taylor was beyond excellent but every coach has been super kind and encouraging to the student and parents. If you run into a problem the manage, Suzannah will try to help anyway possible with a smile on her face.

My daughter Sia was one of the first student to join Gold fish swim school right after they opened around a year back. She enjoy going to the swim class and anxiously waits for the week day of her class. That changed 2 weeks back after she was promoted to one of higher levels. First time in 1 year, she told me that she doesnt enjoy it anymore. After talking little bit more with her, I found out that she was intimidated by other kids who were already in that level and were doing lot better than her. Right before her next class, I discussed this with Ms Suzzanah, GM and she right away spoke to Sias instructor - Ms Michelle. I saw the difference right away, during that class Michelle made extra effort to make the learning fun for Sia. Right after that class, Sia told me that she jad lot of fun and would like to continue the lessons. This small gesture can go really long for kids like Sia, who otherwise could have given up.Thanks Ms Suzannah and Ms Michelle for working with Sia and motivating her to continue getting better. I already recommend Gold Fish swim school to our friends and their families and will continue doing it.Thanks,Kavindra

I take my daughter there and she loves it.

This place is like night and day to the Kids first swim schools. We went there first and didn’t like the “trial by fire” way they teach kids to go under water. And the one in Severna Park was dirty and old. Coming into Goldfish swim school I swear I heard Angels singing.

Excellent place for childrens swimming birthday parties.

Awesome swim school. Great teachers.

Nice, friendly, experienced instructors, safe environment and a lot of feedback!

Great place.!!!

Clean and friendly environment. Fun and energetic staff. Everyone takes part in making our experience positive.