Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Ep. # 120 Making a Splash: The British Swim School Story
Swimming isn't just a recreational skill—it's a survival necessity that can save lives at any age. In this enlightening conversation, Regina League speaks with Kayla Dupoux, director of British Swim School in Charlotte, about their unique approach to water safety education and swim instruction.
What began as lessons in a basement in Great Britain has evolved into a comprehensive swim program with locations throughout Charlotte. Dupoux reveals the school's remarkable age range—from babies as young as three months to seniors in their nineties—and explains their philosophy of teaching survival skills before stroke development. This practical approach ensures students can save themselves in any water emergency, regardless of their swimming proficiency.
The conversation dives into the school's innovative teaching methods, including their "Survival Week" where students practice in regular clothing to simulate real-life emergency conditions. Dupoux dispels common misconceptions about winter swimming and shares why colder months are actually the ideal time to begin lessons. With small class sizes, heated pools, and meticulously trained instructors, British Swim School creates a supportive environment where fears are overcome and confidence flourishes.
Whether you're considering lessons for yourself or a loved one, this episode offers valuable insights into water safety education. Find British Swim School at multiple Charlotte locations including Ballantyne, Matthews, Rock Hill, and near UNCC, or contact them directly at 704-440-3560. Remember: it's never too early—or too late—to learn this essential life skill.
British Swim School of Metro Charlotte
Kayla Dupoux
(704) 440-3560
goswimcharlotte@britishswimschool.com
britishswimschool.com/metro-charlotte
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Regina Lee.
Speaker 2:Hi everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. My favorite thing to do is meet local businesses, and today I'm talking with Kayla Dupoux. She is the director of British Swim School. How are you, Kayla?
Speaker 3:Hi, I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me, Regina.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I am so curious British Swim School, tell us a little bit of history about that Of course.
Speaker 3:So British Swim School originally started in Great Britain, which is where we get our name. Started in Great Britain, which is where we get our name. It was founded by a woman named Rita Goldberg and she actually started doing some lessons in her basement because she realized that there was a need for swim lessons kids to learn how to swim and there weren't a lot of places to go and do it. So she started off in her community, took kids in that you know were around where she lived, and it kind of just grew even further from there. So they rented out a few pools over there in that area and then it got so big that, you know, the United States wanted to get into it, so it moved here. So now we have several different franchise owners scattered throughout the United States.
Speaker 2:And then we're here in Charlotte. So yeah, tell us about your Charlotte area locations.
Speaker 3:So we were all over Charlotte. So north, south, east, we're all over it. The one that is closest to most people probably listening to this podcast is in South Charlotte. So we actually use, you know, gyms, retirement homes, high school pools, hotels, just a way to reach more of the community that we can. The one in South Charlotte is actually located inside the LA Fitness in Ballantyne.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I was a member there. Well, that is super cool and convenient, yeah, so curious how young do you take them and how old do you take them for lessons?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so there's really no age limit. The youngest that we do start is three months, and then there's no cutoff from there. So any little babies come in and do some lessons, and then we have older adults that are learning how to swim. So we're all across the map in that way.
Speaker 2:What's the oldest. You have been a part of teaching with the oldest person's age.
Speaker 3:You have been a part of teaching with the oldest person's age 90. Oh my goodness, yes, and we actually are in a retirement home right now, a retirement community, and we do some lessons there for their residents and I mean they love it. And it's surprising because we don't only just teach like learn to swim for adults, right, a lot of adults come in and learn and work to swim with us as part of their exercise.
Speaker 2:So there's really a range to it. But yeah, 90 years old is pretty amazing, that is. So it's never too late. That tells you right there. So talk about the different types of swim lessons.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm trying to get a visual. Is it private? A group? Yeah, yeah. So we do mainly group lessons, but we do have private lessons as well for someone with a child or even adult that wants to work on something specific. But if you enroll in one of our group lessons, the max you're going to be in is four kids. You know, if you're doing a baby class, there's probably six kids in it total, because the parents are in there with the kids and then our adult lessons are just two people. So it's really catered to make sure that we're meeting and working with everyone. Everyone feels welcome. It's really really a community-based environment.
Speaker 2:So is there a preset schedule? If someone went onto your website and they're curious, either for themselves or their child, you know how long are the lessons and how are they structured.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so our lessons are typically 30 minutes long. You know, some people do back-to-back lessons that they want to. They add in the second day, so that changes it, but our schedule is already pre-set. So once you go online or even if you call us you're looking for a specific level, then we have a specific times that you can get set up on and then you come every single week same time, unless you need to change it. But it makes it very easy to add to your schedule.
Speaker 2:Are we able to determine our own level, or is that something you determine?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so we actually have a quiz on our website that you can go on. You can put in you know, the skills that you're at, maybe skills that you don't have yet, and it will put you in a level that it thinks is best for you and your skill set. But you can also call us right, because some people have very specific fears but doesn't mean they can't do something already. So always calling us and talking to us, you know, over the phone is going to give you a way more accurate description of the class you should be in.
Speaker 2:So I'm curious if you're teaching someone to swim, is it freestyle or can you learn other types of strokes?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we focus mainly on survival, right. So accidents happen all the time, and ponds and tubs and pools. So really, when someone comes in, if they're newer, we're going to teach them life saving skills. First, make sure that anything were to happen to you or your child. They can save themselves, you can save yourselves and you're good. But then on we do start getting into. You know all the different styles of swimming freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly. We have swim teams, something for everyone.
Speaker 2:I remember in college I took I don't know, it wasn't swim lessons, I guess it was more like to be a lifeguard, and they made us jump in with all of our clothes on and I was done that day. Yes, no, I'm going to drown.
Speaker 3:That's actually a part of our program. We have something called Survival Week where it's always themed right. So the last one that we did was Wacky Week. Come in in wacky clothes and we have all the kids do their exercises in their clothes right Most likely if you encounter an accident and you're not prepped for it. You're not wearing goggles, you're not wearing a cap, you're not in your swimsuit, so we want to make sure that everyone knows what to do in any instance, and that's the foundation, really, of our school.
Speaker 2:I think my blood pressure just went up. What kind of training does your do? Your clients I mean, excuse me, your instructors need.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so actually they need a lot of training. Even if you know how to swim, coming in and you're, you know you want to be a part of our team. There's a lot more to it than just knowing how to swim. You need to know how to work with people, work with kids in many different areas of their swimming journey. So we do have an online and in-person training that's required for everybody. Online training is a little bit more rigorous, but in-person training it's day by day, step by step. We don't ever put someone to teach their own lesson if we do not feel comfortable, and they do not feel comfortable in a specific class or in all the classes. So it takes a pretty long time to get people trained up, but it's important that everyone's fully trained.
Speaker 2:So you're learning survival? Is there a test at the end to say I can do it? Okay? What does that look like? What does that look?
Speaker 3:like we have two different tests and honestly, they get tested every single day that they're in their training with us. The last test is we would take them through every single level. Right, so they either work with me, if I'm the one in the water, they work with one of our kids who have been in our program for a while. So they work one-on-one with them, but we take them through every single level. Show me the skills. How do you hold them? Make sure that they, you know, are able to do everything in that. And then we also have a final written exam that we make everybody do as well, and they do need a hundred percent to pass. So we're very picky.
Speaker 2:So do you get, like, a certification? Does that allow you then to go on and be a lifeguard for?
Speaker 3:example. No, that is only for them to be able to teach our curriculum at our school. If they were to go somewhere else, they would have to get different training. So it's very specific to British Women's School. We do have a lifeguard training. That we also do. I coordinate those and I lead those as well for parents and for our staff and for anybody else that's looking to get lifeguard training. That we also do. I coordinate those and I lead those as well for parents and for our staff and for anybody else that's looking to get lifeguard certified. But that's different and they don't necessarily have to work with us afterwards to get that training.
Speaker 2:So, if you're a student, though, is there a test at the end, or how do you know? Okay, I'm ready, I could do this, I'm done.
Speaker 3:So we know a kid is ready really to save themselves, right? If they wanted to, you know, be able to swim all four strokes and swim a marathon I don't know If they want to do something like that then they would come into our you know stroke development levels and even swim team and then from there they've tested out of our program. But we know that a kid can save themselves in any water emergency after they pass our Turtle One level. So that's our survival level really big. Once they pass that level, every single exercise in that level, and are tested out of Turtle One, then they kind of you know, we know from there, if they were to go anywhere else that they would be comfortable, they could save themselves, no matter what.
Speaker 2:How long does that typically take to reach that level?
Speaker 3:That's a great question and I wish I had a very specific answer, but I don't. We get this all the time. For kids that come in and they already have a predisposed fear of the water which happens a lot more than parents realize it takes them a lot longer to progress through our program, just because there's so many things to learn and then on top of that they have to get over their fears as well. So I honestly I can't even give a timeline for that. So I honestly, I can't even give a timeline for that. But for kids that come in, maybe starting and, you know, are starfish and then have three or four more levels to turtle one, I would say probably a little over two years, maybe even three. But everyone's different, Right, Everyone's different. They can move faster or slower, really, just dependent on the kid. How did you get?
Speaker 2:into this Caleb.
Speaker 3:I honestly oh my gosh I love saying this story. I got really lucky. I'm not going to lie. I have been working with kids ever since my first job. That was my first job working with kids. I realized that I was really good at it and it was very easy for me to connect with children and for them to connect with me as well connect with children and for them to connect with me as well. I didn't really realize that I was a good leader until I had a leadership position before this one, and I realized that I just knew how to bring people together. I knew how to connect everyone to help them reach their goals and me reach mine. Right, working together as a part of a team.
Speaker 3:I got reached out by James on Indeed. Actually, I wasn't even looking for jobs at the time, I just had a profile. He reached out and he was like hey, I think you would be excellent for this position that's opening. Let me know if you want to apply. And I was like oh, this is cool. So I was like sure, why not? Let's just see. He took me through three different interviews and I just I fell in love with him as a person before even falling in love with the job. So you know he was the reason why I got into it and I've been swimming most of my life. I'm a really good swimmer for the most part and everything just seemed to click right Leadership, children, working with my mentor, james, who was the owner. So it's I really. I really feel like I got lucky with it.
Speaker 2:Well, it looks like he got lucky too. Yeah, so let's talk about misconceptions. You know, I guess you you're interacting with these people and what do you find are some of the most common ones?
Speaker 3:So a lot of people think that you know if they're swimming in the winter that their kids are more likely to get sick. This is false and you know it's really hard to let everybody know in the whole entire world that you can go swimming in the winter and be fine.
Speaker 3:It really just comes from bacteria, it comes from viruses. It doesn't come from swimming in a pool Right, and our pools all are at least over 80 degrees, so it's warmer than swimming in a lake or a pool or the ocean. Even that their kids are going to be ready for their vacations in the summer and that is also not the case the best time to put yourself or your child in swim lessons is always in the winter. Right, there are less people taking swimming lessons, so way more availability.
Speaker 3:They're learning to swim, and maybe in a colder environment, even though it's kind of warmer than other environments. But it's exposing them early on so that when summer comes around they're at least ready to do certain things by themselves.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, and exposing them to it. That is incredible. I love what you do, so tell our listeners how to find you guys.
Speaker 3:Yes, you can find us online. If you go on Google and you type in British swim school, metro Charlotte, we are there. You can also give us a call. So our phone number is 704-440-3560. And you can also email us at GoSwimCharlotte@B ritishSwimSchool. com.
Speaker 2:And let's name your locations in the Charlotte area again.
Speaker 3:OK, so we are in South Charlotte. I want to list all of them, but we have so many so I don't want to like take up so much time. But we have one in South Charlotte and Ballantyne. We have a pool at the LA Fitness in Rock Hill. We have two pools in Matthews, one in Providence High School and then the other one which is in the Holiday Inn Express on Independence. We are in West Charlotte and North Charlotte. So North Charlotte we are in the Concord Huntersville area. The closest pool will probably be near the university, so near UNCC. That's our closest one to there. I think that's it. One, two, three, four. Yeah, we have a bunch. I wanted to make sure I hit them, but I'm pretty sure I did.
Speaker 2:Congratulations. You're doing, I can tell, an amazing job. He's lucky to have you and thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, regina. It was a pleasure.
Speaker 2:I had so much fun yeah it was great learning about the British Swim School. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:Of course, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPSouthCharlotte. com. That's GNPSouthCharlotte. com, or call 980-351-5719.