Everybody Into the Water: New Swim School Coming to Reston

Goldfish Swim School, which teaches kids to swim in a "tropical" warm-water pool with warm-air surroundings, is coming to Reston.

The company announced that it will add Reston to its 16 locations this year, teaching kids four-months through 12 years old. The location: 12340 Pinecrest Road.

Pools are kept at 90 degrees to make the water inviting, and class sizes are no larger than four children per instructor.

The Reston location will be owned and operated by Gina and Ryan Bewersdorf of Michigan, who will send Ken Turner to be general manager.

Gina Bewersdorf said she landed on Goldfish shortly after the couple had their son, Asher. 

"Because I was afraid of the water, I really wanted him to learn how to swim," she told Patch. 

She had taken him to three different programs before Goldfish.

"He just wasn't having any of it," she said. "Then we found Goldfish."

And he became a young swimmer. (And she became an older one.)

At Goldfish, kids learn to swim in a tropical beach house with bright colors, sea mammal murals and faux palm trees. 

"Parents see the value in it, they see their kids progressing," Andrew McCuiston, vice president of franchise development, told Craine's Detroit Business over the summer. "What we've learned is that even during the down times, parents are always willing to forgo other things for their kids, especially if it's a life-saving skill." 

Pre-registration is already open and can be completed here.