Advice please choosing child's swim classes/ club

[curlytoes]

We have moved house and I need to find somewhere new for my child to have swimming lessons. Ideally I would like somewhere that has a good swim club. I have tried asking a few mums I've met but unfortunately their kids aren't swimmers. Is there some kind of league table or national site for comparing swim clubs. We live equal distance from two big pools with clubs so it's not as easy as choosing my local club.

Why don't you ask the pool operators for contact details for the clubs which train there and get in touch with them. Swimming clubs vary enormously - some are highly competitive and are aiming for their top swimmers to get to the Olympics, others are aimed at providing fun training and experience of lower-level galas, others are purely for fitness and leisure.

If you look at the ASA website (scroll down the page to where it says Regional clubs) you can find a list of ASA accredited clubs in your area.

If your child really gets into swimming, unless they truly have Olympic potential, you don't want the training run to be too far as you'll be doing it every day ... keeping it local also maximises the chances that other parents will be doing the same journey and you can share lifts. The other thing to bear in mind is that there are usually long waiting lists for club's learn-to-swim sessions so you may have to try a few of your nearest clubs