Adult Beginner Swimming Lessons In North County Dublin

I did beginner lessons in the National Aquatic Centre about 6 months ago and still use the place a lot. There's some great things about the place and some annoying aspects but I would say that it is probably the most accomodating place I know of for beginners.

When I went there to sign up and a week later for the first lesson I found it quite intimidating because I was very nervous in the water and it seems like an imposing place. The great thing about the lessons though is that they're done in a seperate pool away from 'gen pop' which has a uniform depth of about 1.5 meters which was great because you never have to worry about straying into a depth you are not comfortable with. There's also a choice between using a cubicle to change or a standard changing room so you have a choice. This seperate pool is also available at certain times (usually the morning or afternoon - the times are on the website) so you can practice on your own in a pool that is usually almost or completely empty. The woman doing the lessons was also good in that she would seperate the group into about 3 groups of different levels within the same lesson so you felt you were swimming with people of the same ability. The lessons are also well paced with the first few being very gentle introductions before slowly building up your confidence.

The downsides are that for the set of lessons I went to there were just too many there so you always felt like you were in someone else's way and it meant there wasn't much individual attention. If the instructor wasn't there then someone else would stand in but they always assumed everyone was a very beginner even in week 8 and always seemed to just watch over it instead of actually teaching which could be frustrating. Also at certain times of the day and sometimes during the lessons there would be a big group of kids from a school etc who tended to mill about the pool as it's near the changing area and watch you which can make you feel like you're in a goldfish bowl at times (although this only happens occasionally). Also the beginner pool is set at 1m when it's not being used for lessons which is quite awkward at first but is still perfectly usable once you get used to it.

I know that was all probably more detailed than it needed to be but the thing that put me off doing lessons for so long was fear of the unknown and a worry that I would be pushed out of my comfort zone so hopefully the info will be useful. The reason I keep mentioning the beginner pool rather than the lessons is that the 7 hours or so of lessons alone won't make you a good swimmer, you really need to come down on your own and put the hours in yourself. Also (unless you really take to it really easily or have a good bit of prior experience) don't expect to be completely comfortable in the 2.4 metre pool by the end of the 10 weeks. I think there is a new set of lessons starting up towards the end of April so it is a bit of a wait but if you signed up now you could definitely get a good head-start getting comfortable on your own.

Clseeper wrote: »

You have a lot of options around there. There's a Jackie Skellys in swords, Sports link nearer santry, DCU and ALSAA at the airport.

I know most of the teachers in ALSAA. PM me if you'd like some specific advice and I can get you some contact names and numbers.

Hi,

I just done a search on swimming lessons and i came acroos your comment. I used to do the lessons in the alsaa but I'm very nervous in the water, I think I'd need one to one lessons. I remember the oldish man that used to do the lessons up there and he seemed very good, would you know if he does one to one lessons?

Thanks