About Us
What We Offer
We offer year-round swim lessons in our customized salt water lesson pool, which is heated to 92 degrees. We use a combination of sand, salt and copper ion technology to keep the pool clean, without the use of harmful chemicals. So there is ZERO chlorine in the pool. Which means no damage to the eyes, hair or skin.
The pool, deck and play area are all indoors, so it is never too cold to swim.
There is a play area where you can supervise your children waiting to start their lesson.
We have over 25 years experience & a passion for teaching. We specialize in the Swim Float Swim method and have been highly trained by the best in the business, Including the originator of the Swim Float Swim Method.
We focus on safety first! After that, everything else falls into place. We take a compassionate and fun approach to teaching. We focus on your child's needs and abilities & we don't believe that tears should be part of your children's lesson.
We Specialize in
- Adults
- Infants (as young as 6 weeks)
- First Time Swimmers
- Scared or Strong-Willed Children
- Traumatized Swimmers
- Parent & Me
- Training for Swim Meets
- Time Qualifier
- Jr Lifeguard
- Swim Tests
- Endurance
- Open Water
- Learning To Swim For Fitness
- Stroke Technique
- Children with Disabilities and/or Special Needs
You can always expect:
- Personalized Instruction
- Customized lessons to fit each students needs and abilities
- Clean and Natural Environment (no use of chemicals in the home or outside)
- Unique & effective method & curriculum
- Emphasizing effective water survival skills that progress into championship stroke technique
- Efficient advancement & successful results for all ages, from infants as young as 6 weeks to adults
- Flexible Scheduling: Classes offered 6 days per week. We are available mornings, afternoons, & evenings.
- We are highly trained and specialize in teaching children with Special Needs
About the owner
Our Story:
My name is April Dawn May and I own Swim Safe Aquatics. I have been swimming and playing water polo since I was 3 years old and teaching since I was 11. I was lucky enough to not only be trained by the originator of the Swim Float Swim method but by several Olympic Gold Medalists in Swimming and Water Polo. So I am well rounded in not only getting children water safe starting at as young as 6 weeks but how to teach strokes to children to prepare them for swim team and beyond.
I started assistant teaching at 11, couching by 14 and teaching swim lessons on my own throughout Southern California by age 18. I've worked not only for myself but for some of the best and brightest in the swimming world!
Teaching swim is truly my passion and though I was taught in a VERY strict manner (sink or swim, literally) I wanted to be different. I knew there was different. So a few years ago I ventured out on my own again and decided to create something unique. Get children water safe without them screaming, yelling, crying, terrified and hyperventilating. I knew it could be done, even though I was told it couldn't. Children cry in swim lessons, right?!? I did, my oldest did...But it never sat right with me. I have so many parents ask "Crying is normal, right?" I used to answer those questions with a, "Yes". Now, I know better. That answer should be "no". Children cry when they don't understand what is going on or when they are in a new environment. Children should NEVER continually cry in lessons. I learned by working with special needs children, that you couldn't treat every lesson the same or always take a tough love approach.
I've now taken my years of knowledge, training, years of teaching and created a method that gets results without the tears but also doesn't take years either. I teach in a heated salt water pool and our property and home are 100% toxin free. Every lesson is customized to the student's needs. And my goal is to build confidence as well as get children and adults water safe. My gentle but effective method has been tried and tested for the last few years in Elsinore and the surrounding areas and with great success! Swimming does not mean your child has to be traumatized to be water and pool safe. We get results without tears!
We also take the same approach with our Adult swimmers. No two swimmers are alike and they shouldn't be treated as such. They have individual needs that need to be met. We are there step by step assuring them and making the process as easy as possible for them so that they can learn to be safe in the water as well as actually enjoy it.
Our Schooling:
- Studied Occupational Therapy Assistant at American Career College
- Studied Physical Therapy Assistance at American Career College
- Studied Business and Finance at Long Beach City College
- Studied Special Needs at Long Beach City College Child Development Department
Certifications:
- Pro CPR
- Pro First Aid
- Pro AED
- Pro Lifeguard
- Pro Lifeguard Certified Instructor
- Pro CPR & First Aid Certified Instructor
- WSI
- Certified Coach Training
- Blood Borne Pathogen Trained
- Emergency Oxygen Administration
Special Needs
I hold not only 3 different degrees to help Special Needs children and adults thrive. I have also been volunteering since 3rd grade with Special Needs children and adolescents. At age 11, I was skilled with the task to teach exclusively to the Special Needs children that signed up for the Swim School I assisted at at the time. I have also taught for an Aquatic Therapy company, teaching swim lessons as well at Long Beach Community Hospital, teaching swim lessons to some of their most fragile patients.
I have a great love and understanding for the Special Needs community and take great pride in being able to help them thrive in the water.