Morgan Swim School

Morgan Swim School (MSS) was established in 1995 in the backyard of Kerin and Bob Morgan. Their goal was to create a family-based business that offered high quality swim instruction and produced confident swimmers and parents. Within a few short years, word of mouth had a ripple effect and a wave of success began! A feature in a 1998 Richmond Times-Dispatch article catapulted MSS from a “mom and pop business” to a swim school known by the general public. The year 2000 brought great change as MSS grew and rented other pools in the community, and added hand-picked swim instructors outside the Morgan family to be trained and added to the faculty. In 2004 the PBS show "Virginia Currents" featured the school and in 2005 MSS was featured in two local periodicals, Richmond Parents and Style Weekly, and highlighted on the channel 12 news. They also launched Fort Worth Family Swim School under the direction of Kerin's sisters. In 2006 MSS launched their year- round programming.

MSS is currently searching for property to build a facility for their school so that they can continue to meet the needs of the growing community. Confident in a proven approach that works, Morgan Swim School looks forward to helping more children and adults grow in confidence and character as they achieve their swim success!

Our Goal

The goal of Morgan Swim School is to help people grow in confidence and character as they learn to swim. This is done by:

• Establishing realistic goals and expectations for the students and educating parents as to a child's physical and developmental abilities
• Suggesting ways parents can encourage their children with positive words and goal incentives
• Focusing on character development in the process of learning to swim
• Emphasizing that the process is just as important as the end product and the process can be both fun and productive
• Helping adult beginners and disabled participants find "what works" for them in the water and the pace with which they feel comfortable and safe
• Offering friendly and enthusiastic quality instruction by well trained instructors who demonstrate knowledge and personal character

The Process

Morgan Swim School believes that students new to our program will do best with a jump start of 8 consecutive private lessons. Continued private or group lessons are suggested until the child is comfortable and has mastered a level of proficiency in freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, elementary backstroke, sidestroke, and entries/exits. Because swimming is progressive in nature, maximum enjoyment as adults is dependent on a certain level of proficiency as children. Children should receive quality instruction beginning as babies and continuing until they are proficient. If beginning later than 5 years old, the process is a little slower due to anxieties that may have developed. MSS will work first on comfort and balance, and then on skills.

Our Guarantee

At MSS we are confident in the quality and content of our program. We guarantee that parents will be amazed at the progress made in our eight day private “Blitz” instruction.

What Makes Us Unique

• A great reputation to be proud of- MSS has volumes of testimonies from individuals and families around Virginia and surrounding states.
• Friendliness and helpfulness- MSS hires staff based on character so that you will always find a warm and welcoming atmosphere
• Character based- MSS uses the swim experience to emphasize character development and life lessons daily.
• Parental involvement and support- MSS trains parents to work directly with their child until 30 months and on the last lesson for children up to 5 y/o. We also value parental involvement throughout the process and give daily updates as to your child’s progress.
• Progressive approach- MSS offers lessons that are orderly and follow specific steps of progression.
• Water safety emphasis- MSS teaches constant supervision as the only way to ensure safety while also teaching the child appropriate safety and water survival skills.
• Small class numbers- MSS begins with private lessons and then moves students into small groups for all beginners and young children so we can better cater to individual needs.
• Maximum time on task- MSS makes sure each lessons provides children with repetition and quality practice time in the water not observing from the sides.
• Vigilant supervision at all times- MSS uses only private or small class size to ensure constant supervision.
• A motivating system of rewards – MSS’ use of daily rewards provides laughter and smiles as the norm while also providing large doses of praise.
• Experience- MSS is the only school in central Virginia with over 40 years in infant, toddler, special needs and fearful beginner aquatics.

Our Philosophy

Swimming is a skill that is both fun for recreation and necessary for health and safety. The recreational aspect of swimming is secondary to the need for safety. MSS believes that learning to swim produces not just the skill of swimming, but the self control to practice that skill in the appropriate way at the appropriate time thus creating a swimmer both safe and confident.