Swimming Lessons in Worcester – Nemo Swim School

**Please note this swim school is no longer active 2/9/2023

Chloe and Lottie have been desperately waiting for places to come available for them to do swimming lessons in Worcester, but with Covid restrictions they have been waiting for over 2 years now to get started.

Over the Bank holiday weekend I spotted a post in one of the local facebook groups from Nemo Swim Schools advertising they had places for swimming lessons in Worcester and we could start straight away!

Who are Nemo Swim Schools?

With a combined experience of over 30 years, Nemo Swim Schools run the lowest ratio group swimming lessons in the Midlands in a safe, relaxed but stretching environment. Our background is in competitive swimming so we have an intimate knowledge of the techniques required to make a swimmer!

We teach from zero to adult, and from absolute beginner to elite / triathlete level!

All of our teachers are DBS checked, Swim England/STA and lifesaving qualified.

​We follow the Swim England teaching framework and pathways of achievement to ensure swimming excellence.

Source : NemoSwimSchools.co.uk

Currently lessons are run at New College Worcester on Monday & Thursday Evening and Saturday & Sunday mornings.

We booked in to start on Monday as they could accomodate all 4 of them on to the same session which is perfect for us as trying to amuse Oscar while he waited his turn or after he had swam and had to wait for the others didn’t sound fun at all.

You can do a single lesson as a trial for just £10 each. After this you pay in advance per term. You do also get 20% off your 2nd and subsequent children.

New College Worcester

The lessons are held at New College Worcester just off J7 of the M5. We didn’t even know there was a school or pool here! There is plenty of parking and the pool is signposted from the carpark.

There are Male and Female changing rooms along with a toilet and a disabled toilet. The changing rooms have several showers and a cubicle if you prefer some privacy getting changed.

As the groups for lessons are kept small there was plenty of room for us in the changing rooms.

You’ll find seating around the pool if you want to stay and watch although I feel once we have settled in I may prefer to sit outside as I wouldn’t want someone sitting watching me do my job!

The Lessons

All equipment is provided by Nemo Swim Schools (excluding goggles but you are free to bring your own if your children want to wear them!) and there were 4 groups of lessons going on at once during our session but altogether there are 6 different ‘groups‘ your child can be in

Tadpoles : babies to preschool
Seahorses : 3 years plus – Stage 1-2 Swim England Level (approx 0-5 metres)
Squids : Stage 3-4 Swim England Level (approx 5-25 metres)
Turtles : Stage 5-6 Swim England Level (approx 25-100 metres)
Swordfish : Stage 7 Swim England Level (approx 100-200 metres)
Sharks/Pre Squad : Stage 8-10 Swim England Level (approx 200 metres +)

You can find out more about Swim England Stages here

How the lessons went;

Chris greeted us and sent us all off to get changed before heading into the pool area. It wasn’t very busy on our session (thankfully!) so we had plenty of space to sit and watch.

Holly and Oscar had an instructor to themselves and Chloe and Lottie shared one. I guess this would change if it were busier on our session but it was great to help them get used to everything.

Oscar (2 years)

I was pretty anxious as Oscar is terrified of the water. He clings onto Gaz and I in the pool and won’t let go at all.

We did try getting him in on his own but he was having none of it! Thankfully his swim teacher was very patient and knew what she needed to do to get him in the water. Gaz volunteered to get in with him to start him off.

As I said before, Oscar clings onto us in the water and has no confidence to be off on his own at all, even though when we were in Florida he was quite happy paddling in the pool with his arm bands on, we seem to have gone backwards since then.

By playing little games and singing nursery rhymes while doing hand movements, by the end of the lesson she had worked her magic and Oscar was letting go of Gaz with both hands (although Gaz was still holding him) this is a massive improvement in just half an hour and we were really impressed with how he got on.

Holly (4 years)

Holly has confidence in the water, but it can quickly disappear if her face goes under water.

She was really happy swimming widths of the pool using the pool noodle and was playing games collecting in the puzzle pieces and swimming back to her instructor.

Towards the end of the lesson they tried some jumping in, however Holly went straight under the water and refused to try again. So this is something they are going to work on. Partially my fault as I didn’t bring goggles (whoops!) but I will make sure we have them next week.

Chloe & Lottie (11 & 10 years)

As Chloe and Lottie are a similar age and at a similar level they were put together, again I forgot the goggles so they were a bit more cautious than usual in the water.

I didn’t really see much of their lesson as I was towards the end where Holly and Oscar were but they both said they really enjoyed it and are excited to improve on what they can already do.

Swimming Lessons in Worcester

We are so keen for them to get some proper lessons, as we do like to travel they spend alot of time in and around pools I think it is a really valuable skill for them to learn. We are really happy to have finally found suitable lessons for them.

If you are looking for swimming lessons in Worcester (or Aldridge, Walsall or Wolverhampton) I can definitely recommend joining Nemo Swim Schools. You can find more information over on their website here

I will keep you all updated on their progress!

ChrissyJ xxx