Welcome to Swimming Los Angeles!

We had a great experience with Coach Matt and our 2 yo son, Lucas. We had tried many other classes (group and private) with my older son, now 5, and we never really saw much progress. With Matt, I felt like my son got individual attention even though we were in a group class. He really pays attention to each child's needs and helps them work through it. His manner is very patient, calm and has a sense of humor. He makes class fun and encourages the parents too when he can see they're a little nervous, as I was! After a few classes, I was shocked to see that Lucas was almost at the same level as my older son! Another plus is that Coach Matt is always there week after week. In other classes, the teacher would change week to week, and that was really hard for my older son to connect/build trust with the teacher. Lucas definitely had a connection with Coach Matt!

Been taking our son to swimming classes with Matt at the El Segundo Pool since he was 8 months old. We did a free trial and he loved the water so we enrolled. Our son has learned a lot from the routine and songs. He is already familiar with the songs from the 3rd session. It's been a fun bonding activity for us and now a great weekly activity for him.

Matt is a great instructor and makes sure your child gets some one on one time with him during your first few visits until the baby is comfortable in the water. Luckily our son has had a majority of good days while in swim class. Makeup classes are easy to schedule and Matt is excellent with communication for any schedule changes or pool cleaning closures. He has been doing this for quite a long time and is very good with babies and safety in the pool.

The El Segundo location is an indoor heated pool. Great for all year round classes. Street parking is easy. Most parents bring a stroller to keep their stuff in. Grandparents/nannies allowed to watch.

We definitely recommend trying it out and seeing if your baby likes it.

Our son started swim class with Matt when he was 3 months old. He is now 20 months and very comfortable in the water. We are only ending our participation because of some financial issues. Matt is a great teacher and has been a positive influence on our son's early development! He has also coached us so well that we will both be able to continue practicing what we have learned in the class. This has been the best investment we have made early in our son's life. Matt is fantastic. A simple thank you is not enough for all he has taught us. We appreciate all you have done for our son.

Going to the guppy classes at Swimming LA is one of the best things we could have done for our baby. We attended Matt's classes from the time our son was 7 months to 15 months old. We only stopped going because we moved away from Los Angeles. Matt has a consistent routine with the babies that truly helps them start to understand holding their breath, simple counting, and basic water safety. I can't recommend Swimming LA enough!

This place is amazing, Matt is an excellent teacher and we had such a blast at our first class with our 5 month old son!

Our daughter Zoe participated in "Coach Matt's" class starting at 19 months until she turned two.  The only reason we stopped is because our daycare schedule changed and we could not make it during the week.  Zoe went from nervous in the water to happily diving in, holding her breath, looking under water, etc.  Coach Matt is great about building confidence in the kids, and using songs to memorize skills.  Zoe would sing the songs and practice during bath-time. We loved the class, and only wish there was an option on the weekend.  This is a great class to get your children familiar with the water.

Matt's the man... He comes from a competitive swimming background but had no problems relating to the kids. Ours was nervous at first but Matt did a great job of explaining the steps and phases of getting comfortable in the water and what we should expect. He's not just teaching the kids but he communicates well with the parents, eaching them how to prepare their kids for a lifetime of water fun and awareness!

Our little guy started swimming with Matt around 6 months. He is no 16 months and very comfortable in the water. He also build the strength and skill to scale the entire pool to get to the stairs and safely climb out. He also can go to the bottom of the pool and get a toy. Most importantly Matt taught us parents about the fascinating innate skill of our son! He helped us to relax and feel confident letting our son go under water and trusting that he would naturally know what to do ... hold his breathe!

My daughter started lessons when she was a little over 2 years old and after just one month I could see so much progress and am amazed at what she learned! Coach Matt is great and I can't recommend this program enough for little ones!

Matt's class was the first experience we had taking our 30 month old son swimming. We have an overactive child who is extremely headstrong. Even through all the resisting - he was able to float on his back within a month and take instructions from Coach Matt and perform through all the crying. It was amazing to watch my son's progress and Matt's dedication in the class. My husband and I were extremely amazed at how much our son had progressed and feel really proud. We are so glad we could take him to Matt's class. We have learnt a lot as well and continue to use the strategies to help our son swim.

We wanted our little one to be as comfortable with water as soon as possible and thanks to Matt she is! She started class at 5 months old and within 3 classes was loving it! Matt is gentle, but firm and so experienced with his instruction. He was so kind and understanding when I worried she was regressing after the first couple of classes. He listened to my concerns that she no longer loved bath time and assured me to stay the course and trust the process. Within the first month, she was back to loving the bath AND shower (his technique)... in addition to the pool! Matt, you are incredible at what you do and I am so fortunate our little one had you as her first swim instructor...I could not have asked for better!

I can't say enough good things about Matt and these swimming classes. Our daughter had done swim lessons before in the UK up to she was 8 months old, but we then had a gap when we moved to the USA until she was nearly 2. This meant that she was afraid of the pool and didn't want to go under.

The first two classes was very hard but Matt encouraged us to keep going. Then we had a breakthrough and by the 3rd class she loved going under the water and wanted to go more than anyone else.

We continued the classes until we left the USA and our daughter loved it every time.

We were a little late to the party and didn't start swim lessons with our son until he was almost 18 months old. To say he didn't care for the first lesson would be a dramatic understatement. He was screaming most of the time and begging to get out of the water. My husband and I were pretty concerned and unsure if we should bring him back. When I emailed Matt later that day, he was quick to jump on the phone with me for nearly 30 minutes; explaining the process and encouraging us not to give up. I'm so glad we went back. By the third lesson, our son was beaming with pride and laughing through most of his time in the pool. Matt knows what he is doing and we are so grateful he took the time to walk us through the process.

Do you finally want to face your fear of water or fear of deep water? If so, I highly recommend Matt Harrigan at Swimming LA, Inc. You should come out of his level 2 class feeling empowered, with a lot less fear of the deep end, with foundational skills to further your swimming abilities. More than likely, you will come out of these classes enjoying jumping into the 14ft deep end, feeling confident that your new knowledge and skills will safely take you aout of the pool and willing to jump in over and over again.

What I am not saying:
1) I am not saying that you will come out of these 2 sessions of three hours per session swimming free-style across the pool and back. That requires more practice, more technique and more swimming fitness.
2) I am not saying that you should venture into deep water without help and/or professional supervision after taking the classes.

My Experince With Water: my fear of deep water came about when I was 5. One of my brothers threw me into the pool. I just remember being under water and being in panic mode. He had to get me out of the water. Very traumatic experience.

Since then and over the years, I learned to do a little bit of free-style swimming, with my head above the water. But once I tired (6-8 yards out), I would need to know that I could stand up, or else I would panic.

I love the water and I feel determined to learn swimming skills and overcome my fear of the deep. I watched soke YouTube videos to learn how to swim free-style and to thread water. I put some of that knowledge into practice, but not in places where I would not be able to just stand up.

I started searching for swimming classes. Read about a lot of places and a lot of reviews. It had to be a quality place to learn at. After all, this should be an investment that can potentially save your life.

I read several reviews about Matt. The review that struck me the most was from a girl who also had a fear of the deep end, just like me. She totally caught my attention when she said that st the end of the level 2 class with Matt, not only was she jumping into the 14ft deep pool, but she was also having fun doing it. I wanted to experince what she experienced. So, I signed up for level 1 of Matt's classes.

Matt's experiences, swimming skills and calmness inspired a lot of trust in me. I stas rted to further my swimming skills in level 1. I Learned a lot more about how your body naturally floats in water, how to stay more calm in water (and this is key), how to face the feeling of having water in your mouth or nose and not freak out about it. Some other basics like blowing bubbles under water. Then, I started to learn how to swim switching from swimming with my face facing down to swimming on my back and then switch back to swimming with my face down. For me, this was key.... a breakthrough!

During level 2, Matt reinforced what we learned in level 1 and the he said the words I was waiting for, yet dreading " now we are gonna go to the deep side." Yes, I was scared! Once on the deep side, Matt further explained and showed us how our bodies flost in water when we fill our lungs with air. We let go of the edge of the pool and we were floating vertically and starting to threat some water. After, we had to swim across the the pool with our face down and then our our backs whennwe needed some rest. I had never been able to do this in deep water. Ever. I was still a bit fearful, but happy and excited at the same time.

Then, Matt said "time for you to jump into the pool." I felt like running for the exit... LOL, but I controlled my nerves. I hesitated a lot. I was the last to jump in out of our small class of four. Finally, I went into the water. My goggles shifted up when I hit the water. For a few seconds, it brought me back to my traumatic experience with water as a child. I used the knowledge and skills Matt taught to stay calm and I surfaced, swam to the edge, got out of the pool and jumped in again maybe another 10 times! I was actually enjoying jumping into a real deep pool; 14ft deep.

I left the class feeling entirely grateful to Matt and to my classmates because they also offered a lot of support through the process. I now feel ready to learn how to swim better a lot faster, now that my fear for deep water is well controlled. Matt taught me the skills I needed to be on my way to enjoying water a lot more. Yes, even in the deep end!