Waterworks Aquatics

Clean facility great, instructors, friendly staff.

This place is probably good for kids, but not adults. I’ve tried to swim in the lap pool on three separate occasions: a Saturday afternoon and two weeknights. There’s always only one lane open for swimmers. There were five of us crammed into one lane tonight – uncomfortable to say the least. The lap pool schedule is misrepresented online: nowhere does it indicate that only one lane will be open for lap swimmers. I tried to explain this to one of the swim instructors, who insisted that the information online is accurate. If management reads this, check your website and correct the schedule so that people know what to expect.
Front desk staff is professional as they immediately agreed to give me a refund because I couldn’t swim with four others in the same lane, one of whom was swimming directly in the center. Won’t be going back.

Excellent swim teachers and staff. My niece takes swimming class here weekly and they are really good about getting kids comfortable with the water and helping teach adults about how to help with the process. I definitely recommend this heated pool/​friendly establishment. The only thing is I wish there were women only restrooms/​changing rooms.

We’ve had a few classes here, and we really love it! It’s right off the freeway, there is a huge parking lot so you never have to search for parking, the pools and changing rooms are clean, the instructors are friendly…
We had a hiccup recently where I called to book Tuesday mornings for my son for 8 or 12 weeks, whatever their package is. After his first week of this new session, I came in the following Tuesday for his 2^nd class, and the guy at the front desk told me that they cancelled the rest of his classes because we had an «outstanding balance that wasn’t paid.» On top of that, there were no other slots for a class that morning for us to jump in on, so we just had to turn around and drive back home.
First of all — this is the 21^st century, and I’m pretty sure the first telephone was invented back in the late 1800s. If there was a problem with an outstanding balance, I wish they just called me instead of cancelling all of his classes. We’ve YET to be back because the young man told us that there is no more Tuesday availability at all, so we’re struggling to find another day that works. Also, the balance that we owed was something like $ 20. Not hundreds of dollars. If the phone wasn’t working, I don’t know why they couldn’t have just waited until we came in for our next class to let us know there was a problem with our account.
Again, the swim classes were great. My son was having a good time. I was really bummed out by the lack of follow through on the part of the front desk. Don’t just cancel classes. Call first. I would have just paid over the phone.
We are looking forward to going back once we figure out an alternate day of the week that works. I’m also looking forward to updating my review with a higher rating. In the meantime, I’ll just be grumpy every Tuesday morning when my baby isn’t swimming.

the place is getting too crowded on Saturdays.
parents and child in the shallow area — so small and even crowded, i’m worried about the cleaningness of the water
showers, changing rooms and toilets are getting dirty, shower heads are broken
instructors are all very young college students, not patient enough, not care enough
make up rules so complicated
20 minutes is not 20 minutes
not enough parking

My 3 year old daughter, Layla, has so far taken close to 25 lessons and the results have been amazing!!! We love Waterworks Pasadena! It’s been a GREAT investment. We have literally fallen IN LOVE with Magan. Her expertise is special. She has been wonderful with our daughter AND with her other students. Trust me. I’ve been paying close attention. No words can truly express the joy that is felt when one witnesses their child blossom, excel and progress in an activity such as swimming. We are blessed to have Magan.

Love the AquaAerobics! And pretty darn cheap for a one-​hour fitness class in LA.

My son had his first swimming lesson last week and he a ball with Julius! My son has be against learning to swim but Julius made my son feel so comfortable in the water that now he enjoys swimming !

I love how the instructors are all dedicated and really willing to train the kids. My toddler is getting so better each time :) proud parents

We started with Waterworks at the Sierra Madre location over 3 years ago and moved to Pasadena when they opened up this location because they moved my then 4-​year old’s teacher to Pasadena. I have had mixed feelings about the Pasadena location from day one.
PROS:
— Indoor pool means easy, year-​round swimming. Also, no worrying about sunscreen.
— Convenient. We live in Pasadena and it’s easy to get there.
— Like the Sierra Madre location, I love the hands-​on nature of the instruction from the first level through the last. This instant correction of form and development of muscle memory is great in teaching children how to swim. It’s much faster than the traditional method of swim instruction.
— Stroke clinic, once your child gets to that level, is a fantastic 40-​minute class for more advanced swimmers. Stroke clinic instructors are fantastic about teaching technique. We love all of the stroke clinic instructors and my child has really gotten a lot out of stroke clinic.
— We especially like a number of the more senior instructors who really have a rapport with children and are able to easily teach swimming.
CONS:
— Absurdly high levels of chlorine.
— Not a lot of deck space, which means parents are on top of each other. And frankly, lots of parents are really rude and obnoxious. Guess what, that means their kid in the water playing with your kid is also really rude and obnoxious. We avoid Saturdays like the plague because of this.
— You have to be really careful about who you choose as your child’s instructor and you need to watch them like a hawk. I wouldn’t have said this 3 years ago, but they’ve expanded so dramatically that I think quality has suffered. There are some instructors there who are amazing, love kids, and take their job seriously. There are other instructors who are just there to earn a paycheck and they’ll do as little as possible to keep their jobs. Don’t just believe your instructor’s 30-​second review of the lesson that your child «did great today!» They say that to everybody. Watch them and ask questions. Never be afraid to intervene or change instructors.
I will leave you with this horrible experience we just had:
My child had a great instructor for the better part of a year, and she abruptly left or was let go. Megan was my child’s new instructor and it was his 2^nd or 3^rd lesson with her. I guess she got frustrated with him not listening because she chose to watch him flounder and call for help and he nearly drowned not once, but twice under her care. I scrambled and brought it to the attention of a manager who immediately jumped in to supervise the rest of the lesson. When I spoke to Megan, I blamed it on my child for not listening and not being able to think through his panic (he’s 3 by the way), and I was beyond upset. Another mother got so mad that she lectured Megan about the dangers of drowning and dry drowning. Management was quick and responsive and went out of their way to appease us with a better instructor, but it’s left a sour taste in my mouth. Megan is still teaching at the time of my writing this review, so please beware. There should be zero tolerance for endangering a child, and I guess because my child didn’t actually leave in an ambulance or worse she’s still around. I would hope that she’s learned not to ignore classic signs of drowning, but I would not trust her judgment when it comes to the safety of your child.
We are at still at Waterworks because I don’t think our alternatives are any better, but I wouldn’t say we’re happy and settled there. I’m definitely researching other options now.

Sophia mixes playfulness and learning perfectly when it comes to teaching kids to swim. She inspires trust. Our daughter was still 2 years old when she first got in a pool but unfortunately she was REALLY scared of the water, and was soon too scared to even get in.
In a matter of months Sophia single-​handedly helped her get all the way to her first strokes. Amazing! After just the first 4 or five weeks Sophia had her back in the water, having fun, and on her way to being pool safe. Now our daughter is totally confident in the water, and so are we about her safety. She loves it. Everyone is happy thanks to Sophia!

We have been coming here since 2013 when they opened.
It’s cleaner than the local YMCA, however at times the showers and bathroomd do get pretty dirty and their shower heads are always breaking.
Their private 20 mins lessons are not «really 20mins». You really only get about 17 mins. We had the semi private-​2 kids option in the past, and we didn’t like it because all you would get is only «10» mins and the 10 mins was more like 7 mins. The private classes are very expensive and they don’t really give you a lot of discounts even if you buy more classes. We changed our class hours to 4:20 — 4:40 pm and the parking and pools were so packed full. My son had classes in a section with two lines and a total of 7 instructors, so the pool was fully packed. Not too happy about this since your kid would bump into other kids. So far are sticking to waterworks until there is a better competitor.

My 3 year old son has been taking lessons at Waterworks Aquatics in Pasadena for 9 months. As he has progressed through parent and me and into semi private lessons, he has had four instructors. All four of them were really good, but of the four, Sophia is hands down the best instructor he’s had. She is patient and kind, but firm when she needs to be (he is a 3 year old boy after all.) She has really taken the time to get to know my son, and not just his strengths and weaknesses in his swimming, but what motivates him to be present and a good listener during his lessons. She has made it clear through her communication with both my son and me, that she truly cares about my son and his success.
The progress my son has made while working with Sophia is mind blowing. He has gone from not knowing anything to independently swimming across the pool. He is now a fearless swimmer and can’t get enough of the water. Sophia is an amazing and dedicated instructor, if you can find a lesson available with her… grab it, you will not be disappointed!

Sophia is the Best! You have to believe me!
My daughter does have different instructors before in waterworks, and they just scare of my crying daughter! I do see some instructors who do not correct kids’ bad swimming habits, but Sophia always correct my daughter with very clear and understandable instruction and she does good demonstration. After every class Sophia will spend sometime to talk to me and my girl so we know which area we need to work on and how to practice and make improvement! After just 10 semi-​private lessons with Sophia, my little shy, struggling, and crying daughter (level 1) turn into a much more confident and stronger swimmer who is in level 5 now and no crying! We really can’t believe it!
Sophia is very very nice and sweet too. I am so glad we stayed with Sophia!!!
People said… my little girl swims like an Olympics swimmer now! I am not kidding!!!
She swims slow now, but she swims beautiful! Thanks again to Sophia… She teaches very good technique, I am sure she is one of the best instructors in Waterworks!
If you are new to waterworks! Give her a try! You will love her!
We do had two birthday parties in Waterworks. Miranda is always very sweet and helpful. We are always happy to see Miranda around and we just love her smile!
Thanks again! We love Waterworks!

My son is 5 is has had swim lessons at other places since he was two, but still had not gotten the proper training. But Waterworks was completely different. During the first lesson, my son learned the ‘flip on your back and float’ lifesaving technique. Their methods are fantastic. The lessons are 20 mins which is more than enough with only one or two kids per class.
Wyatt, our instructor was gentle and fun. But he also did not let anyone practice bad swim habits. The water is warm and clean and so are the shower and dressing facilities. We love waterworks Pasadena.

I’ve been bringing my daughter here since she was 7 months old. The indoor heated pool was the reason we picked this facility over the one in Sierra Madre. After 2 rounds of Parent & Me classes, she got used to the water and seemed to be progressing nicely. We just recently started the semi-​private lessons and love her coach, Julia. She is patient and personable, and my 2 ½ year-​old toddler likes working with her. The kiddie pool is also great for warm-​up before each lesson.
So why the 3-​star rating instead of 4 or 5-​stars? Two things: 1) the price — for semi-​private lessons, the prepay price for 24 lessons is $ 529! That’s the most affordable one for us, but still comes out to be $ 22 or so per 20-​minute lesson, which is pretty steep; 2) the excessive use of chlorine — I totally understand that when you have lots of people using the pools, you need a good amount of chlorine. But there are days when after I’ve washed the towels and bathing suits in the washing machine, I would still detect chlorine smell in the laundry. I’ve also noticed both me and my toddler’s skin are very dry after each swim. All in all, I like this facility, but the price and the high chlorine levels in their pools deters me from being renewing customer.

They run a very nice ship here. I interacted with almost every employee when I was there and they are nothing but nice and flexible. If there was something I needed they put in the extra effort to see if we could get it done, and if it was not possible we had a very nice conversation explaining why. Shout out to Miranda for being so easy to work with and helping me out so much. Thank you all so much for making my experience so great!

We have been coming here for several months now. Private classes at the indoor Pasadena location. Teachers are really good and all train the same so important.
My kiddo has really improved. Thanks.
Pricing is not for the faint of heart. Very expensive for 20min private lesson. But I feel worth it in the long run having a strong swimmer.

My kids take lessons here. It’s a gigantic space with two heated in door pools. It’s clean, has showers and changing rooms, and lots of chairs for parents.
We have had three different instructors that are all great: Amarri, Kyle and Wyatt. My sons swimming has improved immensely under Wyatt’s teaching.
There are many different options for lessons. We have always done «semi-​private» which is two kids to one instructor for 20 minute sessions. It has worked out very well.
I highly recommend Waterworks.

Swim teachers are conscientious and caring; kids running the front counter are well trained to address customer complaints. The latter must be from experience, because this place seriously has it’s head up its butt when it comes to maintaining and keeping a schedule. I imagine that comes from turnover and managing a bunch of late teen/​early 20s swim teachers.
That being a known quantity, it’s amazing to me that management hasn’t mitigated this with extra attention to their business practices.
The frustration of cancelled lessons and no follow through on certain things (wait list email confirmations that are 8X redundant after confirmation and notification, for example) will eventually outweigh my kid’s need for their compassionate but form brand of swim instruction.