Children's swimming lessons
Monday Evenings 4:00pm-7:00pm
Friday evenings 4:00pm-8:00pm
Saturday mornings 9:00am-1:00pm
Sunday mornings 9:00am-12:00noon
Adult swimming lessons
Mixed swimming lessons - Male and female.
Monday evening at 7:15pm
Female only swimming lessons
Monday evening at 8:00pm
Friday evening at 8:00pm
'Fantastic swim school. My eldest daughter has been swimming for almost 3 yrs now and from a little girl who was very scared of the water she now swims with Judy and is a strong confident swimmer. My 3 year old started in September and is really coming on with her strokes. Fantastic teachers I cannot recommend highly enough'
'I can't recommend these ladies enough to people. Judith taught me to swim and now my little girl has been taught by lindsay/Judith. The swimming school is brilliant I wouldn't want my children to go anywhere else. My little girl has come on so much in swimming and her confidence in the last 2&1/2 years.'
'Cannot fault this brilliant swim school! I was recommended to them by a friend! My son started 2 years ago and is flying through badges and safety lessons! My daughter started a year ago and is now going for her 100m badge! Lindsay and Judith are truly brilliant teachers!'
'Excellent swim school both Judy and Lyndsey helped me learn to swim after not being in a pool since i was 12 after a very bad experience. Made me feel safe and encouraged me to improve. Now you can't get me out of the water. Brilliant ladies!!!!!!'
'Absolutely fantastic swim school both my children have learned to swim with Judith and Lindsay and we regularly receive compliments on how strong their strokes are. Can't recommend the swimming school highly enough'
Children's Beginners Swimming Lessons (3+ years)
Learning to swim is one of the most important skills your child will need in life. In our beginners classes we teach in small numbers at a maximum of 6 children to one highly trained teacher.
Using armbands is the key to our teaching style and getting the children to be on top of the water and learning the correct technique and swimming with confidence. Once a child has learnt to swim well and can complete one width of the pool they will be awarded with a 5m certificate and badge which we believe is the hardest award to obtain. They will then progress to 10m and then 25m.
In all our beginners classes the teacher is in the water with the children.
-Firstly this to helps to build a child's confidence when they are in the water, especially when a child is frightened or scared of going in the water and being in a new environment. The classes are structured to be fun and friendly, yet focused which is extremely important with beginners.
-Secondly this enables us to provide hands on guidance with the children to help them with both swimming techniques and water skills.
-And last yet most importantly the main reason for having the teacher in the water ensures the children's safety when learning to swim, as many young children cant stand up in the shallow end of the pool where our beginner lessons are. We never take a beginner in the deep end of the pool until they are fully competent with swimming technique and have done approximately 20m of swimming in the shallow end without hesitation. Each child will always be accompanied in the water by a swimming teacher for their first experience in the deep end.
Once a child has completed their 25m distance awards and has built up the stamina to maintain swimming the full length of the pool (without any deteriorating in stroke) for the duration of the lesson they are then able to move the up into an intermediate class.
As the children progress into the intermediate and advanced classes the teacher will teach the pupils from the poolside. Safety skills such as treading water and basic life saving skills will be introduced as understanding how to stay safe in the water is extremely important.
In the intermediate class the children are encouraged to swim lengths in the deep end of the pool to help build stamina. As technique, strength and stamina are improved distance awards are performed starting from 50m in the intermediate class and ranging anywhere up to 5000m in the advanced classes.
They will develop their swimming strokes in all four strokes of Breastroke, Backcrawl, Frontcrawl and Butterfly and ultimately progress to competitive swimming styles. We teach advanced swimmers until they reach a standard suitable to progress to swimming at a competitive swimming club.
Improver Swimming Lessons and Triathlon Sessions
Want to go faster or make your stroke more efficient? Training for a Triathlon or Ironman? We offer improver and triathlon focused swimming lessons either in a one to one format or in special group sessions. Please contact us for more information on 01204 306215.
Triathlon Swimming Lessons
Swimming lessons for Autism and other learning disabilities
We also offer special one to one lessons for children and adults with autism or learning disabilities. Please contact us for more information on 01204 306215.
Swimming lessons for autism and disabilities
Private 1 to 1 or Group Lessons
We can offer private lessons on a 1 to 1 basis or in small groups. These are available for any level from beginners to compitant swimmers looking to improve. These lessons are available upon request and we can usually build a package to suit your needs. Please contact us for more information on 01204 306215.
Initial Swim School is a privately run, independent swim school based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Since 1983 we have produced strong and confident swimmers with a high standard of technique and swimming strokes.
Initial Swim School was founded by Hamilton Bland in 1969 in an Old Mill building Off Deane Road in Bolton. Hamilton Bland worked for the British Olympic Swimming Team as a Coach and traveled all over the world. It was during his time in America that he came across small private swim schools (as apposed to local swimming pools/baths). Upon his return to Bolton in the 1960s Hamilton and his brother decided to open the first ever swim school in England, which they named Initial Swim School.
Hamilton Bland and his brother managed Initial Swim School for many years. It was taken over by two other owners in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Judith Furness worked for Hamilton at Initial Swim School from its opening up until 1974 when she married and moved out of the area. She returned to Initial Swim School in April 1983 to take ownership and teach the classes.
Due to Judith's quality and style of teaching the business was very successful. She employed other teachers and between them taught hundreds/thousands of children and adults to swim. The Swim School remained in the Mill building Off Deane Road for many years, until the surrounding buildings became derelict and deemed dangerous by the council. As a consequence the council applied a Compulsive Purchase Order for the Mill and its land and it was eventually knocked down. It was then in July 2001 Initial Swim School relocated to Smithills School Pool in Bolton, where it continues to run the lessons to date.
Judith has continued to teach the lessons at Initial Swim School along with her two daughters Maxine and Lindsay. Both have worked at Initial Swim School along side other careers. Maxine Furness is Judith's eldest daughter and also works as Head of P.E at Westholme School in Blackburn. Judith's younger daughter is Lindsay Furness, she also works as a Sports Rehabilitator and a Pilates Instructor.
Another member of staff who has worked for Judith for many years is Jenny Smith, who also worked alongside Judith at the Old Swim School on Deane Road. Jenny is a swimming instructor who also works as a mobile hairdresser. She has had many years of experience in Open water swimming, one of her most memorable was when she swam the English Channel in 1986 as part of a six person relay team. She also swam the length of Windermere as part of a relay team. Jenny held the record for the fastest time across the shortest distance of Windermere Lake in the Lake District.
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