Steuben County YMCA

This review is only for their swimming lessons, as I have zero experience with any other aspect of this Y. After seeing two near-​drowning incidents at the Dekalb County Y, including one where a mother had to jump in fully-​clothed to pull her son to the surface, we started looking for another place to learn to swim.
I had heard good things about their lessons from someone else. Our first introduction to the Steuben County YMCA was with SPLASH – their 5 day *FREE* swim classes during the summer. It was such a positive experience that we continued to sign up for their regular Tuesday evening lessons.
What is so positive about them? Well, first they group students by ability not by age. One of the problems with Dekalb Y is that you can be in one class one week and then if the director finds out your child has a birthday they are placed in the next level up (even mid-​session). People can’t suddenly swim better simply because a few days before they added another candle to their cakes. While I normally think learning is better achieved with different age levels (think Montessori style), in the case of swimming some 8 year olds can swim like a fish and others sink like a brick. It appears safer to group similar abilities together in this case, rather than similar ages.
At the first lesson (Week #1), students go through a swim assessment, to help put them in the proper class. Students are given flotation belts (1 – 3 depending on abilities) and some kids quickly go from 3 belts down to one or none. The kids not being worked with are asked to sit up out of the water, on the wall. That helps eliminate some of the near-​drownings, but certainly it’s not fool-​proof. (Dekalb students are in the water the entire time even if no adult is working with them, with no flotation belts, although they may occasionally have a noodle or kick board).
So far there has always been two instructors per class. I was told by the Y that their maximum number of students per class is 5, which means two adults and five children total (not each). There has always been a life guard on duty during our lessons (not always true at Dekalb). Now, one of the older (i.e., not likely a college student) guards actually stands up, walks around, and keeps a good eye on the swim class. Most of the college guards, sit in the chair and aren’t as vigilant about realizing these kids really can’t swim or save themselves. In other words, they are present but not necessarily focused on the kids in the water. However, these guards aren’t reading books or messing with their phones either like in other facilities.
It is a bit worrisome that at various points during a lesson that there are students on the far end (i.e., the deep end — 8 feet??) with no guard/​instructor near them, as the instructors are on the other end (3 feet area) swimming the remaining students over. The kids are supposed to sit on the wall, as I said earlier, but that doesn’t mean they always stay that way. I wish they alternated so that there was always one adult with any given group of kids.
That would be the one thing I would change. That the students would never be on one side of the pool without an adult right there, especially since the kids may very well not have any flotation (life-​saving) device on at the time.
Sessions are $ 40 for members, $ 60 for guests (non-​members) for 7 week sessions (although one session was only 5 weeks for the same price.) Their swimming brochures are not always accurate, so call or check their Facebook page for current times/​dates. At the time of this review, classes are on Tuesday nights or Saturday mornings. They offer a «parent and me» class for parents with children up to age 3 or so. Then there are «beginner» (start with 3 float belts, practice bobs, floats, jumping in), «intermediate» (use 1 – 2 belts, start working on strokes, floats, treading water) and «advanced» (0 – 1 belts, focusing more on strokes).
Oh and besides their regular pool they also have a smaller therapy pool, known affectionately as the «warm pool.» That’s a popular place to be before, after, or at the end of a lesson.
While there is some room for improvement here, it’s all-​in-​all a wonderful program and we’ve seen more progress in the 2.5 months we’ve been at this Y than in the year plus at the other one. Heck, we saw more progress in the first few times we were there than in the many months and months at Dekalb County Y. I would definitely recommend their swimming program. The kids have fun, but the bar for expectations is set high (yet I’ve, thankfully, never seen kids pushed/​forced, etc). A winning combination.