Give the Gift of Swim Lessons This Holiday Season

December 22, 2025

Stuck on what to give the kids, grandkids, and nieces and nephews in your life this holiday season? Give the gift of swimming!

At Nashville Swim Academy, our brand-new pool in The Nations has officially opened, bringing a state-of-the-art lessons facility to families across Middle Tennessee. As the premier learn-to-swim program in the region, we’ve seen thousands of kids develop a love for the water by participating in our program, and now the little ones in your family can be a part of that same joyful journey.

Treat the kids on your gift list to an experience that builds memories, fosters connection, and nurtures confidence and personal growth. By learning the skills and techniques kids need to stay safe and have fun in the water, swimming is the gift that never stops giving.

You can purchase a gift certificate and tuck it into a basket with towels, goggles, and a new swimsuit, or Happy Nappy (visit our Pro Shop for great ideas), or simply top off a member family’s account.

Get in touch with us to discuss your options, and we’ll help you put together a fantastic holiday surprise.

Gifting Kids an Experience They’ll Love

Pass on toy trends that come and go and video games that keep kids sedentary for hours on end by gifting them with something positive they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

When kids learn to swim, a lot more happens than what’s visible on the outside. While swimming lessons promote the development of fine motor skills, they also contribute to brain development.

A study conducted at Griffith University reveals that children who swim demonstrate advanced cognitive and physical abilities compared to those who don’t. They also showed advanced language, problem-solving, and mathematics skills. Researchers described the results they observed regarding kids' ability to follow directions as “mind-blowing,” especially since the average age was just 50 months.

Growing Confidence One Splash at a Time

During the colder winter months, kids naturally spend more time indoors. Weekly swim lessons give them the opportunity to get out of the house, burn some energy, and learn a valuable skill. When kids swim, mood-boosting endorphins are released in the brain, relieving stress and anxiety and creating feelings of happiness and excitement, all while they listen, learn, and make new friends.

At NSA, we provide a safe and supportive environment for kids to develop confidence and resilience as they face each new challenge. Our class sizes are small, allowing our instructors to provide the individual attention and instant feedback every child needs when they’re learning. And since kids grasp new skills at different paces, our instructors are trained to meet each child where they are, showing them that by trying again and again, they can overcome any challenge. Every time a child achieves a new skill in class, we celebrate that moment. And when kids of a similar age and skill level are together, supporting each other and cheering each other on, lessons take on a healthy dynamic that builds character and sportsmanship.

The Benefits of Continuity and Routine

One of the greatest benefits of year-round swim lessons is the continuity it creates for growing kids acclimating to their changing bodies. Repetition builds muscle memory, helping kids with breath control, buoyancy, and coordination. Consistency also helps with retention, so improvements in skills happen at a faster rate. When kids are engaged in weekly swim lessons, their skills develop in tandem with their bodies.

When swim lessons are treated as a summer-only activity, children often return after a year of physical growth, needing to reorient themselves in the water. They must relearn how their bodies move and reconnect with skills learned the previous year. These stop-and-start patterns can disrupt smooth skill progression, while consistent practice supports steady, lasting success.

In addition, weekly swim lessons give kids something to look forward to—a routine that never changes in a world where things change constantly.

This consistency, along with the support and encouragement they receive from their instructors, creates valuable stability and predictability. Emotional resistance to leaving a parent or caregiver for the pool also decreases, and trust in their environment and their instructor grows. Kids learn that feelings of nervousness or frustration are temporary, that transitions in activities are manageable, and that through practice they can experience the joy of accomplishing new things.

Join Us This Winter and Beyond

The official launch of our new pool and swim facility in The Nations means families throughout the region (our valued long-time members and the new families searching for swim lessons in Nashville) will be the first to experience a state-of-the-art environment where every decision was mindfully considered.

Ours is a swim facility with expansive windows in a spacious, air-conditioned viewing area. The pool is 75 feet long and 25 feet wide, and it’s kept sparkling clean with a cutting-edge filtration system. The new design includes multiple check-in kiosks, changing stalls with curtains instead of doors to prevent little fingers from being injured, and three family restrooms. Additional amenities include hair dryers, mirrors, cubbies, and five on-deck showers that we use as part of the class sequence for rinsing off before and after swimming.

From Parent & Me classes to advanced stroke technique for kids who may be planning to swim competitively in the future, our NSA families have come to love and rely on us for helping their children gain lifelong skills.

This holiday season, give the kids in your life the gift of joy, confidence, safety, and so much more. Purchase a swim lessons gift certificate or give additional swim lessons as a gift for a meaningful surprise that will stay with them forever.

Find the right swim class and register today! Learn more about your holiday gift options by contacting us directly. You can purchase a gift certificate by emailing us at info@nashswimacademy.com!

< Older Post

Newer Post >

From Fear to Fun: How NSA Helps Anxious Swimmers Thrive

February 17, 2026

For many children, learning to swim is more about overcoming a fear of the water than it is about learning to float or mastering safety skills. And situations like these can put parents in a very difficult position. On the one hand, we know drowning is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for children ages 1–14. You might also know that learning to swim reduces the risk of drowning by nearly 90% . But seeing the look of fear in your child’s eyes or having them dissolve into tears at the mention of swim lessons and being apart from you can make you feel unbelievably torn and guilty. However, a fear of water is the strongest predictor of low or absent swimming ability, so we need to frame the issue in a way that balances compassion and understanding with the very real, practical benefits of learning to swim. With this, the challenge comes down to finding the right swimming program for your child—one that will work with them patiently and gently, eventually replacing their fear of the water with a lifelong love of it. At Nashville Swim Academy , we’ve welcomed many children through our doors, some of whom couldn’t wait to jump in the water, some who were a bit more ambivalent, some who were anxious, and some who were absolutely afraid at first. In every instance, we acknowledged these feelings upfront. Enthusiastic kids are commended for their positive energy, but also learn that they can’t jump straight into the water without an adult’s presence and permission. For more fearful kids, we acknowledge those feelings too, empowering them with a thank-you for showing up, a welcome to our swim academy , and space to make room for whatever emotions emerge. In doing this, we quickly establish a sense of trust, where our more fearful swimmers feel safe. We also provide you, the parent, with tailored suggestions for at-home activities that can help assuage your child’s fears through games and fun bath-time routines. You can learn more about many of those activities here . As the premier learn-to-swim program in Middle Tennessee, our instructors are trained to recognize and understand each child's individual needs and to meet them where they are. We focus on providing supportive encouragement at just the right pace in our newly designed, state-of-the-art pool, which is clean, well-organized, geared toward families, and equipped with amenities that foster comfort and a sense of belonging. If you’ve been Googling “ swimming classes near me ” to find the right program for your child, welcome to NSA. Your research has brought you to our flagship location in The Nations and to a program conceptualized and designed by founding owner Krysten Call, MSA, a former collegiate swimmer, lifeguard, and coach at Vanderbilt. How an Adaptive Learning Environment Builds Confidence in Young Swimmers While fear of the water often begins after a negative experience, such as a fall into deep water or a stressful, poorly handled swimming lesson, research also shows that fear of water can have no single triggering event. In some kids, it’s simply an innate uneasiness around an environment that feels unpredictable, unfamiliar, and bigger than they. The uneasiness associated with water can grow stronger if left unaddressed. Recognizing this, researchers emphasize the importance of identifying fear early and responding with thoughtful, supportive teaching strategies. We align with this approach, acknowledging that confidence in the water develops differently for every child. Our program begins at our FUNdamentals level, where swimmers are grouped into classes by age, experience, and comfort level. For children aged 2, parents can swim with their child or choose Terrific Twos, designed for two 2-year-olds with one instructor with parents watching instead of in class with their little one. In Beginner 3s, we break skills down to best support true beginner swimmers — ranging from “My child is brand new to swim lessons” to “My child is very tense or hesitant in the water.” Swimmers who can already move through the water independently and confidently are placed in a higher level. We do the same for our swimmers aged 4-6, and those aged 7-11, so that from toddlers to older kids who feel anxious or hesitant, parents can find a lessons group that supports steady, confidence-building progress at a manageable, relaxed pace. How NSA Turns Fear Into Fun As a well-recognized swimming academy , we’ve never taken a cookie-cutter approach to our lesson program. From the moment families enroll, we practice intentional class placement, keeping the instructor-to-student ratio purposely low. We build comfort and trust in the water for our younger swimmers through playful, sensory-rich activities and support the development of balance and buoyancy at an appropriate pace for calm, safe floating. We promote coordination and gross motor skills through simple, fun propulsion activities and set the stage for a lifetime of joy and success in the water. For older children who haven’t had a positive experience with swimming and need to ease into the process slowly, we focus on foundational goals first, helping them: Develop breath control. Build confidence and comfort. Advance toward effortless floating and submerging under water. Transition between front and back horizontal body positions. Practice swim-breathe-swim patterns to build rhythm and safety skills. And while our approach is not a one-size-fits-all, the outcomes are always the same. Fearful kids become confident young swimmers who love the water and love having fun in it. They make new friends, take to other sports activities more easily, and bring their skills, confidence, and the joy of staying healthy and fit with them through their teen years and into adulthood. Find the Right Swim Class for Your Child at NSA When we create conditions that foster confidence, young swimmers’ fears become a thing of the past. And their swimming lessons turn into a source of pride, excitement, and a deep understanding that they can achieve their goals by showing up, trying, and practicing. If your child is anxious around water, you are not alone, and neither are they. With the right environment and guidance, fears dwindle, confidence grows, and learning to swim becomes a genuinely positive experience. Many parents researching “ swimming academy near me ” came to our program for our methodology and stayed for the love of the pool, the team, and the instructors who make up Nashville Swim Academy. Register today and put your child on course to developing a lifelong love of the water!