Swimming is a sport that is difficult to learn on your own. This is especially true if you have a fear of water. This is why most individuals head over to swim schools to learn. Swim schools are sometimes rare and hard to come by. They are typically located within a corporate building or in different stadiums. These areas are sometimes secluded and not frequently patronized. Wait a minute! Today’s topic will discuss the top 5 best swim school in Malaysia.
These swim schools may also have varying years of experience. Some are very experienced and have been in the industry for years. Some, have recently just started up and scaling up.
However, when looking for swim school in Malaysia. We highly recommend doing your preliminary research first while also enquiring on the prices of these places. Some of the items you should look for in a swim school are:
Training structure
The school should have a standard yet flexible training structure. This is where the program follows certain guidelines for completion and achievement, while being flexible enough to cater to different students.
Variety of programs
The school should be able to cater to a minimum of two categories. This would be children and adults. These two categories would be a pre-requisite to determine a good swim school. However, more and more swim schools are participating in competitions. So, you would also see a program dedicated specifically to competitive swimmers.
Certification of coaches
The coaches should ideally be certified. If they are not, it is rather difficult to benchmark their capabilities. If the swim school you want to go does not have certified coaches. We recommend to sit in to view their training session. Otherwise, request for a trial swimming lesson.
Presence of training equipment
When you join a swim school, expect the coaches to only ask for 3 basic equipment from you. These would be a kickboard, goggles and proper swim wear. Other additional items, should be provided by the school if required. This is such as pull buoy or safety belts. However, do take note this is only during the beginner stages. You may be requested to get your own as you progress.
What are the 5 best swim schools in Malaysia?
Now that you know what you should look for in swim schools. Here are the 5 best swim school in Malaysia that you can join in. Please take note that all swim schools now are closed. This is due to standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Malaysian Government.
DSA Swim Academy
D Swim Academy (DSA) has been associated with the sports for over a decade. Currently, they serve more than 5,000 customers worldwide. They are specialized in teaching the sport to children. In fact, they are the largest swim centre operator in Malaysia. They are even recognised as a Gold Level AUSTSWIM swim centre. The below divides their offerings into four sections. This would be programs offered, certification of coaches, locations and training equipment.
Programs offered
Let’s look at some of their swimming courses, their swimming courses are segregated into five main types. They have different swim courses that are catered to your child’s every need. The first would be their baby & me program. This swim program will be for toddlers between the ages of 6 to 36 months. This is a slow progressive swim course to get your child acquainted with the water.
The second would be kiddie swimmers. This is for children who have been more acquainted to water. The age group in this class would be between 3 to 4. This can be seen as their first independent step to swimming. The main highlight of this lesson would be the building of their water safety foundation. Water foundation teaches a child how to enter and exit the pool safely. The third would be learn to swim. This would be where the real action begins. Your child will experience how to swim the four main basic strokes. The age group in this class would be between 5 to 6.
The fourth would be the. Here is where your child will undergo strong training in the sport. This is where they will be learning how to improve their basic four strokes, while improving their endurance and technique for DSA Swim Squad competitions. DSA provides an amazing platform for children to experience competing in the sport. A selected few will even go on to representing the school in major swim-meets. The last would be DSA adult swimmers. As the name suggests, this more for adults above 20 years old. If you want to pick up the sport or get healthy with swimming, this program will be for you.
Besides this, they also offer programs in artistic swimming, water polo and even pool operator certifications. However, through our research, many parents fear of letting their child learn the sport is because they don’t know who is teaching.
Certification of coaches
Well, have no fear with DSA. DSA swim teachers are all certified to teach the sport and provide CPR. They all receive their certifications from AUSTSWIM and Life Saving Society Malaysia. They constantly ensure that their coaches are kept abreast with swim developments and trends. This is to ensure that their training methodologies and programs are redesigned consistently for maximum effectiveness.
In fact, they have a student progress tracking system. This is an offering that not many schools dare to provide. The simple reason is because it is tough to gauge a child’s improvement rate. As, at a tender age, a student’s improvement rate tends to fluctuate. This acts as a testament of how confident DSA is with their swim programs.
Locations
We bet you are excited now to find out where is DSA located since they have so many programs and coaches. Well, they have 14 centres across Malaysia. This includes Johor. You can find their centres here: www.dswimacademy.com
Training Equipment
In terms of training equipment, DSA swim centres are all state-of-the-art. They train in stadiums that have been used for numerous national swim competitions. In terms of equipment and not centre, they even have their own retail channels. This indicates well-enough that they are ready to take your child to the next level in swimming.
VGO Aquatic Centre (Flying Fish Aquatic Academy)
The VGO Aquatic Centre has been making its waves across Kepong. They were established in 2011 as Flying Fish Aquatic Academy. However, since 2016 they rebranded the VGO Aquatic Centre. Since its establishment, it has grown from 4 students and 1 swimming instructor. Now it has over 100 students and 8 swimming instructors.
Their most reputable achievement is winning a contract with The Parkcity Club. They now have a permanent spot in one of the most highly sought-after township residences in Malaysia. To that off, their founders were all previous national and state level athletes. The sports they compete in are diving, swimming and synchronized swimming. Today they even have Kepong’s largest indoor swimming pool. Let’s look into some of their programs.
Programs offered
They offer two different programs that cater to almost all ages. The first would be their Learn-to-Swim program. This program teaches you the basic of the sport. This can be considered as a basic to intermediate level of swimming. The age group for this class is very wide. It caters from toddlers to senior citizens.
The second one is their pre/competitive program. This is where students want to go one-step higher. This program puts the founders and coach’s expertise to good use. They will be imparting their years of national and state level training to you. With the goal of preparing, you for future competitions.
Certification of coaches
VGO’s coaches like their founders have all been professionally trained. They are all PADI swim school certified which is powered by Starfish Aquatics Institute. This would ensure that there is a shared concept of training methodology that is being passed down to your child.
Besides that, they also have a 1:7 class ratio. This ensures that every child gets the attention they deserve. This will then indirectly improve the overall improvement rate of the child.
Locations
In terms of locations, they currently have 4 locations. This includes one of them in Johor. We highly recommend two of their locations. These are the VGO Aquatic Centre in Industri Desa Aman and at DesaparkCity Club. These two locations can be considered their main base of operations. Additionally, you can be sure at these two facilities you can even enjoy high-level gym facilities. For DesaparkCity Club, you must be a member to use the gym.
Training Equipment
In terms of training equipment, similar to their swimming pool. It is extremely well-equipped. They have swim noodles, toddler floats, kickboard and so much more. To take this to another level, they are also an authorized distributor of the MadWave brand. This brand is internationally recognized. In fact, it is even used by a series of professional swimmers.
Psst… they also have a guaranteed you can swim program.
UCSI Swimming Academy
This is a brand that requires little to no introduction. UCSI University is a comprehensive university in Kuala Lumpur that offer various disciplines. Now, the UCSI Swimming Academy is part of the UCSI brand under their child development centre unit.
They have only begun in 2018 but have since set the world alight with their presence. This having even be present in the PRAKL Talent Carnival 2019. Imagine, in a short 1 year, they already have students participating and even winning medals. In terms of locations, there is not too much to shout about as they are only available in Cheras at the moment.
Let’s have a look at their programs,
Programs offered
They have a variety of programs ready to meet to your needs. This is regardless of how old or how fast you want to learn. They main programs include parent and baby lessons for toddlers. This is where parents will swim with their child. This will allow the child to feel comfortable and at ease to swim in water. Children and Adult Swimming Lessons are also available. This program would be for anyone that is above 7 years old. This program will teach all the basics that you need to know about the sport. This includes the 4 basic strokes and even tumble turns and platform diving.
The most interesting program they offer would be their school holiday crash course. This is a unique that puts large amounts of pressure to the swim school. In fairness, not many schools would offer this due to its expectation. However, UCSI does offer this. So, you can take advantage of your child’s time-off to further improve their soft skills.
They offer a larger variety of courses then mentioned in the above. You can find more info here: www.ucsicdc.edu.my
Certification of coaches
In terms of certification, even though not widely publicized. They do provide certification courses to their coaches. One of which is their collaboration with dive buddy to provides life saving courses to their coaches. So, rest assured, your child is in safe hands.
In fact, a close source states that for some of their hires. They even personally arrange the session for them. This shows how committed the school is to improving their coaches for their students.
Training Equipment
In terms of training equipment, they do provide a few items. This includes goggles, kickboards and even safety floats for their students. On top of which, they actually host water safety weeks sporadically. This safety week will teach children how to use items such as life rafts and lifebuoys.
So, in terms of equipment, definitely in safe hands.
Aquabubs Swim School
Aquabubs has a long-standing history of being a renowned swim centre. They founder herself has been teaching for over a decade before she started Aquabubs in 2015. Since its inception, it has grown from a small pool in a pre-school to two centres with over 800 students.
Their founders and coaches like others are all competitors in the sport. They are recognised by AUSTSWIM. Besides that, they are also a member in the Australian Swim School Association. This shows how far they have come from a small pool in a pre-school.
Let’s have a look at their programs,
Programs Offered
Aquabubs centred their class training programs through a swim level progression chart. This chart is as seen below;
- Ducklings (2 – 4 months)
- Tadpoles (5 – 12 months)
- Guppies (13 – 24 months)
- Dolphins (2 to 3.5 years old)
- Sharks (3.5 to 5 years old)
- Rays (5 years and above)
Now these, programs may be difficult to understand to the layman. However, we are here to break it down for you. From the ducklings to guppies’ stage, this is where you child will be introduced to water safety techniques and how to gain co-ordination over their limbs. This is a crucial stage for students as it would determine how they feel in water.
When they are at the dolphins and sharks’ stage, this is where they can begin kicking and co-ordinating hand movements. More often than not, this is where they begin learning the freestyle stroke.
Once they are in the Rays stage, they are able to perform the 3 basic stroke and butterfly will be introduced. So, when your child enters the Aquabub program, your child has a clear swimming progression.
Certification of coaches
In terms of coaches, they have two certified coaches that are currently known to be on the team. This includes their founder who is an AUSTWIM certified swim instructor and Joey as a certified diving coach.
Training Equipment
In terms of training equipment, there are no visible training equipment being shown on their website. However, bases on google review, we have seen that they provide sufficient equipment to act as catalyst to their students’ progressions.
Swimin12 Swim School
Swimin12 is renowned for its notorious tag line. It provides your child with the opportunity and guarantee to swim in 12 hours. This effectively looks at 12 sessions. It was established in 2011 with the latest researched and accelerated teaching method.
This is how they can place the guarantee that you or your child can swim in 12 lessons maximum. This is proven with more than 600 students. In fact, they even cater to some parent’s most detail of no touching their daughters. This may sound impossible but they method doesn’t even require them to touch your child.
Programs Offered
They have 6 different programs that are provided. Their mains include children swimming program, adult swimming program and special needs program. The children swimming program caters to children from age groups of 4 to above 7 years old.
Their adult swimming program is specially catered for individuals who missed the opportunity to learn at a young age. It’s never too late to learn. These are trial and proven method to improve your technique even at an older stage.
The last main program they offer is the special needs program. This is where their methods are even able to teach children with mentally challenged situations. This includes attention deficit disorder (ADD) and Autism Hyperactive.
You can view more of their courses here: www.swimin12.com
Certification of coaches
In terms of certifications of coaches, we don’t need to say much in terms of their certification methods. This is because their coaches were all provided with the same training courses to ensure that they can ensure their student’s swim in 12 hours.
Locations
In terms of locations, they are available at 4 different locations with their main HQ at PJ Palms Sports Centre.
Training Equipment
In terms of training equipment, we do not see any training equipment being publicly used in their websites. However, we believe that with such precise swimming method and techniques. Their equipment should be used in unique methods.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
In our humble opinion, these are the top 5 best swim school in Malaysia. However, some frequently asked questions that parents may have include:
They all look the same and provide the same facilities, how can I find the best fit?
Our recommendation is through trial and error. It all depends on the comfortability of either you or your child. Once you found the best fit, that’s when we recommend you to stay with them.
Is an indoor swimming pool or outdoor swimming pool better?
In our opinion, we recommend the indoor swimming pool. For a simple reason, that there is less UV ray exposure, which means the swimming pool will require less chlorine. This means that the overall exposure to these chemical substances will be reduced.
What is the average price range for these classes or programs?
We would say the average price range is approximately RM 50.00 to RM 100.00. This subject to the quality of coaching provided by the swim school.
Conclusion
All in all, looking for the best swim school in Malaysia is subjective to everyone. However, it is very important that we find the best fit for ourselves and our children. This is because how your learning curve in this sport progresses are based on the teacher. We highly recommend to try DSA as your first option if possible. As they have the widest range of experience while having the largest range of pool facilities in different areas.
As the saying goes, the student is only as good as the teacher. So, it is important you find the best technique of teaching that suits you. This only comes through trial and experience. So, once these movement control orders have passed. Let’s get swimming.