Lydon Paul J Aquatic Center

So much more effective than the Y! I didnt learn about Lydon until my second son was born and by then I had already spent hundreds at the Y to basically teach my son to depend on floaties and not really swim on his own, for years! That’s what called my attention here. The immediate independence that’s taught. The instructors I was nervous because they’re all older but WAS I WRONG! They’re pros with kids and sooo patient and awesome! $ 10/​week for 10 weeks its a deal! No membership needed for a better deal either! And they make sure you’re in the right class for your child. I always recommend this place.
Located right behind Liberty Tree Mall, by the movie theater. Has its own private parking lot!
4 stars because yes, the building itself could use an uplift.

As stated, old facilities and better off going to the YMCA where you know what your getting. Wasn’t big on «Tad» as an instructor and would recommend avoiding having him if you choose to go there.

This is a good bare-​bones facility for adult lap swims or aquatic therapy. two pools, one with a deep end, one shallow throughout. The price is right, especially for senior citizens like me. I’ve never had a problem finding an open lane in the early to mid afternoon. When there are a lot of lessons going on, however, it can get pretty noisy (especially when PJ is teaching — he likes to shout and clap very loudly and the noise reverberates). The water temperature doesn’t vary much — it’s usually quite comfortable.
The women’s showers and locker room are okay. The showers are plenty hot. One of the 3 stalls is user-​unfriendly (no shelf for your toiletries, no towel hook), but it’s rare that the other 2 are both occupied.
The locker room is less cold from fall through spring than it used to be, thanks to the addition of a space heater, but it’s still pretty chilly in the colder months, especially when you first enter after your swim. There are plenty of half– and full-​sized lockers, as well as an open coat-​rack. You can rent a locker for a year or use a free one w/​your own lock. Three curtained changing stalls offer privacy but they’re tiny, with most of the space taken up by a large plastic chair (the kind you put on your patio). There’s one usable outlet for a hair dryer.
In summary: Good value for the money. Pick your swim times wisely if you like quiet swims. Don’t expect amenities.

Fantastic place. We’ve had all 3 of our kids come through here over a 5 year period, and they all enjoyed it and never wanted to quit. It is not the prettiest, but your kids will learn to swim, which I think is very important. The instructors offer tough love, but it works and the kids grow and become confident not only with swimming but other areas as well. Parents that baby their kids too much will not like it, but if you let the instructors do what they know how to do you will never fear bringing them to pool parties or to the beach.

I love going to the Lydon Aquatic Center for my exercise. I have a lot of orthopedic issues and water is the only way I can exercise without pain in my joints. Everyone is super friendly and the front desk employees are awesome, especially 94 year old Glo.

I have to admit, after reading some of these reviews, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I took a look at when these reviews were posted, and figured after 2 years some things had to have changed.
If you expect this place to be a top of the line aquatic center, you will be disappointed. If you expect it to be a place for kids to learn how to swim, then you’ve found the right place.
We just signed up for a 12 week session. The lady at the front desk was nothing but sweet and kind on the phone with me and in person. She was able to answer my questions, and even explained the «boys in the girl locker room» comment that another person had complained about. Under 6, they are allowed to go in, WITH THEIR MOM, to the girls locker room to change. News flash, most kids need help in one way shape or form at this age. You can’t expect a mom to be allowed to go into the men’s locker room, can you?
I even like that they offer family swim times on the weekend.
Affordable, nice staff, and if they teach my 4 year old to swim, 5 star worthy.

I’m giving two stars because the instructor my daughter had was fantastic! Maureen helped my daughter progress from barely swimming to a really good kid swimmer. With that said the facility is in deplorable condition. The girls, children’s, locker room looks like a Petri dish for mold. I’m afraid every time we come here that my child will get foot fungus or worse. The air quality is oppressive. The front desk staff is rude and will ignore you all day. They don’t have family changing areas so lots of times you end up with little boys in the girls locker room, making my daughter uncomfortable. I agree with the previous post… the board of health should really do something.

I can not believe the woman at the desk is allowed to keep her job!
My other children took lessons here before the witch at the front desk was going through menopause. Such a rude woman. I’m going to have to figure out a way to speak to her supervisor.

I went to sign my children for swim lessons because they cannot do it on the phone. When I arrived, the woman at the desk was on a personal phone call, that bordered on innappropriate. It was just generally unprofessional. When I went to the desk, she ignored me and continued to gossip. She finally told her friend she had to get off the phone but the proceeded to start up the conversation all over again! One of the worst examples of a first impression I have ever witnessed. Although I tend to be pretty laid back about most things, I grabbed my purse and left!

NO CERTIFIED STAFF? My 14 y. o needed a swim test and form completed for a summer adventure camp. I called ahead, spoke to Maureen (owners family?) about the form. She indicated she was familiar with the camp. Interestingly, she gave me name and number of someone who would do the test at the pool, like a «private lesson». No problem. Instructor passed my som, signed the form. Oddly, i pd. him directly. PROBLEM. Camp requires copy of certification card, or other official documentation, lifesaving, WSI, etc. I realize that after leaving, call the man, he tells me HE IS NO LONGER CERTIFIED. Call the pool, am told that Maureen also not certified. They seem to be scrambling to find someone with appropriate certification. Is this simply a communication issue? From a liability POV, this sounds like a real problem. How can they have all these swimmers, etc, and yet seems like noone has current certification?
They have promised to solve this problem for me, and send me documentation for someone who works there. We shall see.

Called this center for my employer and tried to ask some questions and the person on the phone was extremely rude and abrupt. When asked questions, she was rude and then told me she had to hang up because she was working the front desk. Not sure how this place stays in business when they treat people so rudely. I would never recommend this place to anyone.

My daughters have always wanted to take swimming lessons, so I signed them up here, because it was cheaper than the Y and closer to my house. I always wondered why everybody I talked to always went to the Y though, now I know the reasons.
1. Nowhere to hang your coats. There are no pegs to hang your coats in the lobby nor in the children’s locker room. I had to leave my children alone in the lobby to hang their coats in the women’s locker room, because they have this ridiculous rule that no children are allowed in the adult locker rooms, for any reason.
2. Ridiculous rules. My younger one had to go to the bathroom urgently one time and there is only one bathroom in the kids locker room, which was occupied. So I sent her over for a quick trip to the women’s locker room, which at the time was completely empty. The receptionist had a cow about it and yelled at us. I told her, ‘Fine, we won’t use the women’s bathroom. I hope you don’t mind my daughter peeing on the floor right next to your desk.’ I noticed she made an exception for us right after I told her that.
3. Kids locker room. The women’s locker room seems roomy and is fairly clean, but the kids locker room is a hot mess. It is extremely small and dirty. They have a few very tiny cubbies to store shoes, but nowhere to put coats or duffel bags, etc. I bring a shopping bag with towels, a change of clothes etc. I have to bring it out to the pool area because there’s nowhere to store it otherwise. There’s usually about 10 – 15 kids in there at the same time, so it’s very cramped.
4. Impatient instructors. The kids liked their instructor, but I noticed that as the session went on more and more kids started dropping out. They were all novice swimmers and I think the instructor expected too much out of them. I noticed she frequently got frustrated by everyone’s lack of progress. My oldest wanted to drop out too, she was having a difficult time with putting her head under water (only one out of the ten initial students had actually mastered this). She said the instructor was taking things too seriously, that she only wanted to swim for fun, not train for the Olympics. I agreed with her, but told her she needed to learn the proper technique and that we would finish out the current session and she wouldn’t have to go anymore. Unfortunately, we had to drop out early.
5. This place condones name-​calling and abuse. Our last session there was a substitute instructor. My kids were none too happy about this, but I told them it was only one time they would have him. Unfortunately, I assumed he was fit to teach children. From the start, he acted like a complete a-​hole. When one of the students got swimming goggles (the other instructor required goggles) he took them from her and then threw them back in her face. His behavior only got worse from there. He splashed the kids violently with water without warning supposedly to get them used to having water on their face. I was shocked when he did this, and it really upset both my kids. The final straw was when he splashed my oldest in the face and called her stupid for supposedly not paying attention. I told him my oldest has autism and that it’s hard for her to maintain eye contact and that his behavior was abusive and completely unacceptable. I took both my children and left about halfway through the lesson. I called the center an hour later and told them about this instructor’s behavior and that we were never coming back. They refused to apologize to me and would not give me a refund. I guess they think being mean and belittling to 6 – 10 year old is okay.
Well, I spent almost $ 200 dollars here for my kids to have lessons and that’s $ 200 dollars too much. I sent my kids here to learn how to swim, not to be yelled at, abused and called names. They will never see another cent from me again. From now on, we’re only going to the Y.