based on 1585 ratings.
What our clients think of us!
The following comments were submitted by our customers when asked to provide feedback on our service. In the interest of transparency, we present these comments as provided except that personally identifiable information has been hidden unless the reviewer has requested their full name be included with the review. No unfavorable comments have been removed.
Great staff, responsive administration.
small class sizes, easy to reschedule
Not being upfront about using bromine in the pools was our biggest problem. It should definitely be in your FAQs because more and more kids are having weird allergies to chemicals like bromine.
Secondly, the situation at Swift got out of control. Firstly, parking was a disaster and we never received parking passes until someone mentioned them in passing. Finally, the water temp and cancellations just got to the point where we weren't able to rely on a consistent class for our daughters.
you always do best you can top quality
Everyone there is friendly, all the coaches really put you first and want you to succeed.
The facilities at swift need improvement. The bathroom is straight up gross. We love blue dolphin and are hanging with it because we have taken class with you for a long time. I would tell people I love blue dolphin, but certainly not swift. I no longer have my daughter shower there as a result of no warm showers, showers that don't work and a locker room floor that is disgusting.
The film! And, of course the corrective instruction to follow. The instructor breaking down the stroke from his own footage is powerful. It gave me a lot of confidence in the method.
Knowledgeable and patient. Gave me a plan to follow for my swims on my own.
very clean and polite staff. Especially like the mirrors in the bottom of the pool. Would have like to utilize video.
The organized format, small class size, and personalized attention
Make sure the water temperature is comfortable and not cold. The locker room should be neat and clean.
I'm really not sure what you can do to improve. I think the kids can be pushed further and at an increased pace. I have not seen the progress that I expected.
Teachers and lessons are great, but pool temperature at Swift and Lakeview is inconsistent.
I've only taken one class, so it's a little early to I would recommend our not recommend.
Welcome to Chicago Blue Dolphins! Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
John is an excellent instructor.
Ongoing problems with swift- temperature of pool. Maybe find an alternate location/pool?
If your son went yesterday, I'm really sorry about the cold water. It was dropping on Wednesday, and we were assured that it would be fixed, and it wasn't. I'm a little bit at my wits end because we had a face-to-face meeting to ensure that (a) the temperature would be kept in the right range or (b) we would be told that it had dropped so we could notify our clients. I'm going to complain to the principal again, reiterate the points, and see if we can fix it for real this time. We've been there for 3 years, and we haven't had problems with the temp very frequently. It's been chronic since Thanksgiving, and I don't know what's changed.
As far as finding another pool goes, I’m getting pushed in that direction. However, changing pools is never a seamless process. First, there aren't a lot of them out there who will rent to a private company. CBD would be considered either an annoyance to the lap swimmers or a competitor to existing programs. Second, if it's in a different neighborhood we stand to lose clients who don't want to travel. Finally, no facility is ever perfect. Swift has some advantages in that it is easily accessible from car and public transit, they have a parking lot, the building is secure, the pool is a great size for teaching with a deep end, and TYPICALLY it has warmer water. The locker rooms are not great, but it's a school and we have to accept that it won't be as nice as a health club or our Swim Studio.
In short, we'll see if we can get them to fix the problem for good this time. Thanks for being patient and such a great swim family for us.
Coach Fitz
Not that you guys have control over your other facilities but it would be nice if the Swift elementary had proper working showers in the women's locker room.
Small class sizes and the attention given to each student.
The instructor was decent - it's my first time so i'm not sure. As for the facility and logistics, it's very disappointing. I feel like these inconveniences are enough to make me not return.
I wished the pool was bigger or just reduce the number of attendees per group. Also, the changing room was not baby friendly at all; it's slippery even for an adult. There's not enough room for us to set our things down and change our babies/toddlers. And with only two shower stalls, it's severely inconvenience for 4 other restless babies/toddlers waiting to rinse off after class.
I'm glad that you enjoyed the class. As for the size of the locker rooms and the pools, we are a little bit limited in what we can change there due to space limitations. We have locations with conventional pools, but they are further away. You can use the shower on the deck and the bathrooms outside the space for additional changing.
If the changing room situation or pool size seem to be deal breakers, let our office know and we'll issue you a 100% refund. We want to make sure that you are happy with all aspects of the program.
I really like Kora, but I was extremely disappointed with the condition of the ladies locker room - it is disgusting. Not being able to shower before or after swimming raises a few concerns:
1. How do you keep the pool clean and running optimally when several classes continually enter the pool wearing lotions, deodorant, urine, fecal matter, fungus, etc.?
2. Once I finish the lesson, I'm forced to go all the way home to take a shower with chlorine and who-knows-what on my skin and hair. It is also an inconvenience when I have other plans after swim class.
Based on previous comments, this has been an ongoing issue which is unacceptable. So why do you still teach classes at this facility?
My name is John Fitzpatrick. I'm the owner of Chicago Blue Dolphins. I was reviewing your feedback from Listen360, and I wanted to follow up with you on it.
There is a valve in the coaching office that needs to be turned on to get water coming from the showers. We should have turned it on. I've asked my office manager to put on the checklist of items to set up when the day starts and turn off when the day ends. We typically try to start the showers a few times at the start of the shift to get the hot water boiler started, but you might have to run them for a bit at the beginning of the day to get hot water. That should take care of the issue of rinsing off at the start and the end. By the way, the ADA shower seems to get the best water pressure.
Before I take up your last point, let me just state that if the locker rooms are a deal breaker, we'll be happy to give you a full refund. I don't want you to be upset about this for eight weeks such that it affects your learning.
From a practical perspective, we continue to teach at Swift because no facility is perfect. There are always compromises. But here are some specifics.
1. There aren't a huge surplus of options -- Unfortunately, most facilities including the Park District, health clubs, and Ys will not rent us their pools. We are either seen as an annoyance to the lap swimmers or a competitor to their existing programs. It would be great if I could walk and have my choice of 5 other pools in the neighborhood, but that just not the reality.
2. The pool is a great teaching pool -- The pool is a great one for teaching skills. Although we've had some glitches, for the most part the last 3 years have seen 84-86 degree water. The pool has a deep end for teaching deep water skills. Personally, I would love to save the staff and rental expense and teach everything at our Swim Studio, but we would hear from people that the pool is too small and there's no deep end to teach treading.
3. The facility is conveniently accessible -- The school is easily accessible from Lake Shore Drive, from Clark/Broadway, and the Red Line. We like it for that reason.
4. We hit an area of the city that would normally not come to us -- If we shut down Swift, we would probably lose 80-90% of our clients who come to the facility because of its close proximity to their home
5. The parking situation is good -- We have a large parking lot available at the school for our classes which eliminates the cost and inconvenience of finding street parking for our clients
6. The building security situation is good -- We have the ability to control access to the building, so our families and adults feel secure. In some of our other facilities, there was a complete lack of security of the building and the pool, so our clients did not feel safe when creepy people came off the streets and started walking around the facility and in the pool
7. The water quality and air temperature are good -- Over the last 3 years, we've had clear and clean water without too much chlorine. The air is generally warm and keeps our swimmers cozy. Many of the facilities have "milky white" water or are so hyper-chlorinated that they trash suits in a week
8. The management of the school is good -- Although they are hamstrung a bit for repairs by the CPS general office, the management and custodial staff of the facility are very good and cooperative. We have a great working relationship with them, and that's huge for us.
9. Building a pool is outrageously expensive and has a big time lag -- It took us a long time to get our Swim Studio up and running. For us to build a full length pool with a deep end would require more investment dollars than I'm willing to raise at this time. Plus the process will take about 18 months to complete for opening based on our previous experience. In another 4-5 years, I'll be looking at doing something like building another facility, but we need to run our existing facilities for now.
I know that the bathrooms can be a let down. They were constructed for kids ages 4-13 rather than adults. I'm a swim coach at heart, and I look to a facilities potential for quality teaching over the amenities. Maybe it will be my downfall that I won't walk away from facilities that don't have great amenities.
Again, if the locker rooms are aggravating enough, please call our office and we'll give you a full refund.
Thanks for your patience,
Coach Fitz
The instructor was very nice and attentive, and moved appropriately basses on comfort and skill of the class. My only HUGE concern was the state of the locker rooms at Swift Elementary... truly appaling.
My name is John Fitzpatrick. I'm the owner of Chicago Blue Dolphins. I was reviewing your feedback from Listen360, and I wanted to follow up with you on it.
Before I take up your last point, let me just state that if the locker rooms are a deal breaker, we'll be happy to give you a full refund. I don't want you to be upset about this for eight weeks such that it affects your learning.
From a practical perspective, we teach at Swift because no facility is perfect. There are always compromises. Further there aren't a lot of options for us in general but definitely in that neighborhood. Most facilities, including the Park District, health clubs, and the Ys would see us as an annoyance to their lap swimmers or a competitor to their programs. The facility is a great teaching pool with a deep end. It's well located, has good parking, good security, and a great leadership team in the school. Yes, the locker rooms are a let down. There were built for kids ages 4-13 rather than adults. With budget cuts at the CPS and the need for downtown approval of any repair work, the school can't fix problems in the school as quickly as they'd like. It's a shame.
One issue from the locker rooms was water in the showers. There is a valve in the coach office that needs to be turned on when we start our shift and off when we finish. I suspect that it was not done. We've added the item to our checklist of our Swift office staff to make sure that happens in the future.
I hope that's a somewhat satisfactory response. Again, if the locker rooms are aggravating enough, please call our office and we'll give you a full refund.
Thanks for your patience,
Coach Fitz
Great instructors and a good instructor/student ratio.
A man by the name of Michael who runs with Running Excels recommended me to you. I haven't tried the classes yet but it was his recommendation that motivated me to set up classes for myself. I want to set up classes for my children for this summer but I just heard about the construction that is going to begin very soon on the intersection of Damen, Fullerton and Elston, so I might want to sign them up for another location.
Small class size
Frequent assessment to move to next level, willingness of instructor to work with kids at the next level in their same class in the event there are no openings in the next level
I feel Blue Dolphins has been a great experience for my daughter, teachers are good, and the company is responsive when issues arise. I do worry, though, that it's difficult for the company to control vital issues such as pool temperature at 'rented' spaces from CPS including Lakeview and Swift school.
Private lessons are the best
Prompt and thorough