Member Testimonials
keeps the kids busy after school and a good form of exercise.
I like the water aerobics. The water feels good on my joints.
The staff does great job, helpful and organized.
The staff is great with kids! The boys love being able to do swim lessons during the day.
Retired people I recommend it
Great place to go to for exercise and socialization. Staff is always friendly and helpful.
I like the programs the YMCA offers for all ages.
Many levels of fitness are included. A variety of yoga teachers can serve all types of students.
Zumba!
Cardio sculpt
Walking track
Friendly staff and.
Variety of activity options.
Cleanliness.
Fun, creative events.
Reasonable cost
Nice facility, great staff, new equipment.
Great activities. Something for everyone
The Chippewa Falls YMCA is a very well managed and clean facility. It strives to provide a variety of programs and activities for families, youth and senior citizens.
The chair yoga is excellent. The instructor is so personable and helpful. Simply love going!
I enjoy weightlifting and the weightlifting machines. I am patiently waiting for reasonable prices to training lessons. I am also happy we have a good swimming pool. But no lessons for adults?
The staff is awesome!
Lots of variety and times that can fit anyones schedule!
I am so thankful for the swim team at the YMCA! I love having a physical activity available to my kids in an environment that they love to be in. My girls doing well at meets was just the icing on the cake to the program. I'm thankful to the coaches for the guidance and encouragement they provide.
I like the size and setup of the Chippewa Falls YMCA. The equipment is good for my needs (maintenance). The morning WEEKDAY staff is great. The only change I would request is maybe the music be different in weight room and the cardio room. We've learned that "WORKOUT ROCK" is the best we've found, but the cardio room may like something else. (Sabrina has been great helping us find something)
The track…. The wights and the machines!
I love that the kids get pushed at their level and go into the big pool of they're ready. I love that siblings can swim at the same time in baby barracuda instead of multiple different lessons. I love that they're swimming and in the water nearly the entire time. Our kids really enjoyed the teachers in baby barracuda.
The Chippewa Valley YMCA is a great place to connect in our community through many healthy lifestyle options! The members and staff are all friendly and helpful--encouraging everyone to get more involved and try new things! I love it here and tell everyone I meet to give it a try. When they do, they "get hooked" just like I did! ;o)
We joined the swim team for the first time this season. My child really excelled and enjoyed the structure and consistency that the program offered. The coaches have been great providing age and skill appropriate training.
I do feel that the swim team is not afforded the same resources or enough resources. Pool time is a struggle. Lanes are often over crowded and some practices are very late in the evening for the ages of kids.
I was speaking with a parent from a different swim team and their aquatic director coordinates blocks of hotel rooms for away meets. Little things like that help a team feel supported which I don't feel like we have here in the Chippewa Valley.
My kids participate in the swim program and love it. The coaching staff for the Senior and Senior Elite groups are great. But at this age level the pools are over crowded and the schedules are difficult to manage. Due to a lack of available pool time the age range of kids that have to be in one practice is too wide. This is especially noticeable with the senior group after kids were moved from the Junior Elite to Senior groups in December of 2024. This has severely limited our enjoyment of the program and our kids success.
The Baby Barracudas program has much more trouble with the coaching team. There are practices where they barely practice swimming at all. Often you can see the coaches just killing time until the last 15 minutes when they let the kids free swim. That's not what the program is about. Again, limitations on pool time & over crowding are partially to blame, but the coaching staff at this level if often not equipped well.
The coaching is great, practice is well organized, and head coach Ryan is very responsive to emails and questions. He also addresses issues in a timely manner. He listens to ideas and when he doesn't implement them, it's for good reason. He thinks about what's best for the whole team and not just what's best for an individual or small group. I also really liked that more of the coaches were able to attend the meets. I recognize that costs a lot of extra money to send extra coaches, but it was very appreciated by the swimmers!
The resources are limited. The swim team brings in a lot of membership that probably otherwise wouldn't exist and it would be nice to see the YMCA working toward investing into the team more. A couple of suggestions to consider improving the program even more are to consider requiring attendance at a specific number of meets. Or building the cost of a couple of meets into the price to encourage meet attendance and not have that added cost. It's not an issue for us, but I know that some parents don't go to as many meets because it can cost anywhere from $25-$100 just for the swims, prior to any associated travel costs.
Another idea is to better define what it means to be on the swim team vs using it as recreation. I have no issues with kids being on the team to stay active and maybe they'll love it and go to meets someday! But it would be nice if those kids were in a different practice session since their training needs(and level of concentration) are very different from those kids that are working toward championship swimming. It might be beneficial for both types of swim team members. There are so many options, and in general it might be good to restructure practices around certain levels of swimming experience or put some type of swim cut requirements to different practice levels/lane assignments.
Still totally 10 out of 10 and I have only good things to tell people about the team, coaches, and program. We have complete trust in Ryan and all the other coaches. The above are only ideas to consider, not criticism.
Good coaches, teaches great skills, not just strokes but also life skills like being part of a team, determination, stick-with-it-ness.
Our children enjoy the camaraderie.
The coaches 😉 Swim team is a great way for any child to develop and grow as an individual and as a teammate.
I enjoy all the opportunities the programs provide my daughter. I do think there are many kids/families who miss out due to cost. I wish there was better advertising for those who want to participate but maybe can’t afford the cost of swim team. I’ve mentioned it to many people and I think that scares them away.
My daughter has thrived in this program. She loves her coaches and teammates and has met so many wonderful friends across the state through swim.
We love the Day Care and that our kiddo can go to 4-K as well. Swim lessons are also a fantastic perk!