My 2 year old son was enrolled in Aqua Essence swim lessons. He loves the water. The first day he screamed for a half hour while the instructor? dragged him through the water. There was no life jacket or other safety equipment used, or visible. I was told that all toddlers act like this. Unbelievable! This meant to me that they are this inept with all toddlers? Second day more of the same with the instructor? placing my son on the side of the pool repeatedly, in order to attend to a second student in the pool. The lessons were supposed to be one on one. Hmmm? My son was trying to get away and if I wasn't there to catch him; he could have fallen on the slippery deck and been injured or worse. No one was watching him, but my wife and I.
My wife and I cancelled the next morning. The staff told me again that the screaming in terror was normal. My son is my 7th child. His six siblings are all excellent swimmers and not one was ever traumatized in a pool repeatedly. The lack of safety, lack of response of the instructor's? partner who was on site and sat idle, combined with the inept skills at handling toddlers was atrocious. The instructor kept telling my son to tell him what he wanted to do. He repeatedly told him ,"You have to talk to me. Use words." my son is two years old and has only knows a very few words. The instructor? was told this, but continued. Reminded me of someone trying to talk to a person who does not speak English. Somehow they surmise that if they speak very slowly the person will magically grasp English and understand them. Same degree of futility here! The lessons being held in a Holiday Inn pool which has no pool area less than 3 feet in depth is not great either. All my other children were trained in Red Cross swimming programs properly and in proper pools, involving play and making the experience pleasurable for the students. My son will be also in future. The City of Winnipeg programs are better, safer and a lot less expensive. Aqua Essence states that they match the student with the right instructor. Not in this case, if any. The instructor? was so bad that I really question his qualifications for the job. His partner who did not enter the water was not attentive to the students and on her cell phone often. Her purpose for being there was a mystery to me, unless it was to prevent the lounge chair she was on from blowing away if there was a sudden draft. When we cancelled the lessons, we were told that we had to give 24 hours notice. Therefore we would be charged for the third lesson which we would not subject our son to. The lessons were daily so a little tough to give 24 hours notice. Plus we will be charged a $25 administration fee for cancelling. If you don't care about quality of instruction and want swim lessons? from a firm more interested in obtaining your cash and retaining as much of it as possible; then Aqua Essence is the place for you. The rewarding part is that I have a formal education in developmental psychology and can help my son recover from the traumatic experiences of the last two days at their hands. Caveat emptor !!!!
