About the ownerS

My name is April Mate and my husband Adrian Mate, and I own Swim Safe Aquatics. I have been swimming & playing water polo since I was 3 years old & teaching since I was 11. I was lucky enough to not only be trained by the originator of the Swim Float Swim method, but also by several Olympic Gold Medalists in Swimming and Water Polo. So I am well-rounded in not only getting people of all ages water safe (starting as young as 6 weeks) but how to teach strokes to children, adolescents, & adults to prepare them for swim team, the military, boy scouts, and beyond.

I started assistant teaching at 11, coaching at 14, & teaching swim lessons on my own throughout Southern California by the age of 18. I've worked not only for myself but for some of the best & brightest in the swimming & water polo world!

Teaching swim is truly my passion & though I was taught in a VERY strict manner (sink or swim, literally), I wanted to be different & I knew there was a difference. So a few years ago, I ventured out on my own again & decided to create something unique. Get children water safe without them screaming, yelling, crying, terrified, & hyperventilating. I knew it could be done, even though I was told it couldn't. "Children cry in swim lessons, right?!?"

We put our oldest in traumatizing lessons...but it never sat right with us.  We 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, and teaching to create a method that not only gets results without the tears, but also doesn't take years either. We teach in a heated, salt water pool. Our property and home are 100% toxin-free. Every lesson is customized to the student's needs. Our goal is to build confidence as well as get children and adults water safe. Our gentle but effective method has been tried and tested for the last few years in Lake Elsinore, Temecula, Wildomar, and Menifee, and the surrounding areas 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. Each swimmer has individual needs that need to be met. We are there every step of the way assuring every student & 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.

• 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

• 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

April not only holds 3 different degrees to help Special Needs children and adults thrive but she has also been volunteering since 3rd grade with Special Needs children and adolescents. At age 11, April was skilled with the task to teach exclusively to the Special Needs children that signed up for the Swim School she assisted at the time. She has also taught for an Aquatic Therapy company teaching swim lessons and at Long Beach, Community Hospital teaching swim lessons to some of their most fragile patients. 

April has a great love and understanding for the Special Needs community and takes great pride in being able to help them thrive in the water.