Jim Booth Swim School

If I would describe Jim booth swim school in one word it would be «embarrassing». As a former D1 athlete from UCSB who swam competitively. I can honestly say that the teaching strategies and techniques they demonstrated were appalling. Instructors were trained to be very forceful and demanding towards the children. Instructors MUST use the school’s odd terminology («airplane arms» for freestyle!?) The swim class is very repetitive and it did not allow children to naturally enjoy being in the water. Most of the teachers didn’t know how to swim correctly themselves! How can teachers instruct students when they don’t know the proper technique? Also, founder and owner Jim Booth is very disrespectful and demanding towards staff. for example, being in the water for up to 6 hours with no break?! Yelled at you if you were not instructing the class his way (forceful, yelling)
Parents, please go to a different swim school that teaches children how to swim correctly while having an enjoyable time! Hope this is helpful!

5 stars to Coach Dee
4.5 stars for facility — do wish there were larger pools to work with but understanding the instructors are likely helping pay rent on the facilities they currently have
Coach Dee is awesome! ! Our first impression left us apprehensive, but after a couple of months of sticking with it, we noticed dramatic changes and really got a feel of how the instruction is. Coach Dee is completely on it when it comes to consistency, pointing out strengths, working on weaknesses, and really pushi ng my 10 and 13 year old to swim their best. Their slow approach may phase new students out, but you just have to stick with the program. It’s like learning most anything. You can’t expect perfection after just a month or even a few months of 30 minute classes. They’re not just trying to get your child to learn basics and keep them there. They’re always working on improving them. Thank you!

Watsonville swim lessons users beware!!! They do not provide you with the address to the swim lesson location and don’t bother looking online as it give Jim Booth’s actual home address instead of the swim lesson location. I spent 45 min driving around from his house in Larkin Valley (listed on website) to Green Valley Road to finally have some other company know where they were located, apparently another mother had the same problem. I tried calling their phone number to, once again, only get a machine. Very very frustrating and something that could have been avoided if they HAD IT AVAILABLE ONLINE!!! Fyi, the address location is 130 Herman Ave, Watsonville. When I called and told them the frustration of this whole thing they didn’t care one bit. Also note, this locations pool size maxes out at 4’10″.

I’m not sure what these people are talking about!!! JIm Booth swim school is the only swim school in the area ran by a former Olympian. The lessons are well structured, the instructors are excellent and friendly and I have never run into any issues at this school. My baby can now pull himself out of the pool from any part of the pool and my 9 year old did her lessons here and is now doing the swim team for the second season. If you want your kids to learn to swim and build confidence in the water have them go here. I highly recommend Jim Booth swim school!!!

My grandson was at Jim Booth Swim School for a full year. That means he was graduated to the next level until he reached the final leg (Seal i think) and repeated that class 4 times. When I took him to the pool last week he could not swim! Had no idea how to use his legs. And was not comfortable letting go of the side of the pool unless I was in the water right next to him. He’s almost 7. I had attended a few of his lessons and mentioned to the instructor that I did not see where he was advancing in his swimming skills and that she stood only 3 feet away from him (in the shallow end) so there was no opportunity for him to actually swim. And every lesson was exactly the same 2 minutes of this 2 minutes of that. Robotic and monotone. And he had this teacher one-​on-​one for 12 sessions. She was such a bore. my daughter felt that because it was on– on-​one the lessons were valuable (the class before was over crowed). Clearly they were not. The kid can’t swim. one year and $ 1000+ later! And many of those lessons were all the way in Watsonville. What a waste!

My kids have been taking lessons here every winter/​spring for the last five or six years. In my opinion swimming is not optional. My children MUST be good, strong swimmers. When I enrolled my son, at six-​years-​old, in the Capitola Little Guard program, I was shocked and impressed that he was the best swimmer in his age group. He had great form and he had the confidence to jump in for his Dolphin Dives. Fast forward to the next summer, and he was the only kid in his group to attempt a solo-​swim. I swam next to him, but he refused to ‘hang-​on’ to the flotation device. My daughter, who happens to be a lot less competative than my son, entered guards as a six-​year old. She also showed the same strength and confidence that I have come to believe is a strong selling point for Jim Booth Swim School.
As for the complaints about Jim Booth himself. I’d like to point out that Ashlyn, his right hand woman, seems to be taking over most of the Admin of the business. Jim was my swim teacher 25 years ago, and I like the guy. But I haven’t seen much of him over the past year.
Jim Booth Swim School gets my vote as the BEST in baby and child swim instruction!

I am seriously surprised to see any negative reviews about this school. My 4 year old son just completed his first month and loves it. They were very professional over the phone when I called to ask questions. They followed up before and after his lessons. He even received a personal note from his teacher and a certificate of completion that made him feel empowered and accomplished. His teacher Ashlyn is patient, kind and makes the classes fun. He can’t wait to go back next month. The facility in Watsonville is clean and parents are welcomed to watch the lesson as chairs are provided around the pool. The dressing rooms include showers and changing areas for both boys and girls. They even have a small play area to keep other children entertained while siblings are in lessons. I can’t think of one negative thing to say about this school and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone considering swim lessons!

I rarely write Unilocal reviews but I felt so compelled to after the latest incident with Jim Booth swim school. Last summer we took my daughter to lessons at Harvey West with this «business» and were greeted with an incredibly rude and unpleasant woman collecting the fees at the gate. She continued to order us parents around like we were children, not allowing us to watch our daughter in her lesson. I don’t have any complaints about the actual instructor per se (she was average) but I just did not like the way they treated their customers. I vowed to never take my daughter back there again.
Oh and by the way, they don’t do make up classes if you miss a class! You are just out 20 bucks if you miss.
Now here we are a year later and they are calling me out of the blue, multiple times, and insisting that we signed her up for this summer’s class and owe them money! Ive never once talked to these people about enrolling again. Like I would ever take my daughter here again. I’m getting prepared to file a complaint with better business bureau.
This is a shady, unprofessional business. Do not take your child here. If I could give them negative stars I would.

Don’t know why Jim Booths is only one star. Our 3 year old has come from nervous to exuberant in the first 2 lessons. She loves her instructor and the pool is warm and inviting.

I sent my 6, 7 and 8 year old to private lessons and the teacher took the approach of shaming and comparing them to point out how to improve. «Your sister can do it, why can’t you?» «I’m going to give them a cannonball when they are done, but you’re not getting one. You know why? Huh? You know why?» The child was trying his best, he’s just not a natural swimmer and came out of the pool in tears. She asked me to move two of the kids down a level (in front of them) and I was paying for a private swim lesson. (?) Have called, and received no response from Jim Booth. The other teacher has spent her entire class time talking about her boyfriend. My first ever one star rating — and I’m hoping that it help other people find better options.

My review is based on my child being in classes from 4 months old to now 2 years old…
We have had Teacher Ashlyn almost exclusively since my daughter was 2 months old (except for literally 2 classes, amazing if you ask me). All classes my daughter has been in have required either my wife or myself be in the water with her, i personally think this is the best setup for kids this age. They cant swim on their own and what better way to creat a safe learning environment to learn to swim than with the parents participating?! I cannot speak more highly of Teacher Ashlyn, she, in my opinion, is a master at what she does. I can confidently say that my 2 year old daughter is more comfortable in the water that kids twice, three times, her age. My daughter talks non stop about class, «dive for rings!» «slide!» «splash teacher ashlyn» «airplane arms» are just a few of the phrases she repeats week after week. Even now, my daughter, the instant she touches water, even if just to wash her hands, she practices her airplane arms. I credit half of this to the teachers at Jim Booth, the other half i credit to my wife and myself for BEING HANDS ON IN THE TRAINING! Remember, the age group i am rating is for classes that require parents to participate, if you want to drop your kids off at a day care swim class, dont go to Jim Booth. Our daughter has advanced leaps and bounds with the help of these teachers and our active involvement.
My daughter will soon be advancing to the next level of classes where we wont be in the pool with her anymore, she will be able to hold her own in the next stage of classes and i have full confidence in the teachers at Jim Booth.
I have seen multiple kids cry for a long time in the water and i havent seen any teachers treat them poorly as a result, I have seen many instances of the teachers encouraging the kids to continue in class and get past the fear of the water, or parents not being with them or whatever is makign them cry. With the exception of one teacher that i believe is a bit aggressive/​stern with the kids in other classes i love the staff there.
I strongly recommend you talk with the staff there before signing up so you understand how their school works. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND JIM BOOTH SWIM SCHOOL TO ALL AGES OF KIDS, MY DAUGHTER WILL ONLY LEARN TO SWIM THERE!

Excellent. We’ve had nothing but great experiences for the last two years here with Teacher Becca! My daughter has made great progress and can’t wait for her class every Saturday.

I had a bad experience with them when I signed up my two kids.
My three year old daughter and two year old son were signed up. My daughter, who is a very sensitive little person– started to cry on the first day. Instead of telling her it was okay and letting her take it slowly, they basically demanded that I leave her with the teacher and the other kids and ”take a walk”. I was upset with this– she is my daughter, I know her best, and me walking away and leaving her was NOT what she needed. I felt like I was pressured into leaving the pool area, which made me uncomfortable. We went once. I decided to forfeit the $ 218 or whatever it was for two kids signed up, than go back and put my daughter in an uncomfortable position. We will sign up at the other local pool– WAY cheaper, the teachers are way better, and they will allow me to stay near my daughter. And it wasn’t like I wanted to be in the pool with her– I just wanted to make sure she could see me. Ugh. Bad experience.

The lessons at this school are chaotic and disorganized. For infants and toddlers the parent is not only required to be in the water during the lesson, but to actually do all the teaching as well. The teacher just goes around periodically and checks up. I don’t mind teaching my child myself, but not if I’m paying someone else to do it for me.
Jim Booth is one of those people that seems nice at first, but then has this other scary side to him. He can be really unreasonable and mean.
The dressing rooms are also nasty at the Watsonville location and in general, the place was unsanitary. There is also no place to park, so be prepared to walk a long way to get to the pool.
I DO NOT recommend Jim Booth Swim school.
I would try Seahorse Swim School. You will actually be treated with kindness there and your child will actually learn how to swim.