Our Story
In the beginning…swimming was fragmented, overcrowded and seasonal. The idea for the company was formed when founder, Marina Mentzel, realized the demand for quality at-home swim instruction. Unfortunately, drowning is the leading cause of death among children under the age of 4¹ and the second leading cause of death for children under the age of 12² with 75% of these drownings occurring in backyard pools³ (can we link the sources at the bottom). It just made sense to teach swimming in the same pools children would be spending the most time in.
urSwim jumped right in ….to teach children how to swim. It takes a highly trained swim instructor with a lots of enthusiasm. As a mother of two young children living in coastal New York, Mentzel understood the importance of making sure her children learned how to swim by trained and experienced swim instructors. Mentzel knew she wanted to hire dedicated and experienced swim instructors and educators who are willing to learn and adapt lessons to their swimmers’ needs.
The demand for year-round swim lessons came quickly as urSwim served 1,000+ clients across Long Island. This led to partnerships between urSwim and premium indoor swimming pool locations to offer swim instruction throughout the year.
And it doesn’t stop with swimming instruction… Mentzel also examined the aquatics industry as a whole and knew there was a better way to accommodate the needs of day camps, beach clubs, apartment complex pools, municipalities…the list goes on. urSwim started offering turn-key swim instruction and lifeguard management. urSwim’s team are experts in hiring, training, and managing all members of an aquatics staff such as lifeguards, aquatic directors, swim instructors and certified pool operators to fit all of the demands of our commercial partners. In addition, it prides itself in being an American Red Cross authorized provider leading the nation in high quality training and certifications.
After the success of urSwim’s at home swim instruction, indoor swim instruction, and aquatic management, Mentzel knew she had to offer this opportunity to others who are passionate about the aquatics.
Let’s write urSwim story … urSwim is a rapidly growing franchise with swim schools in both New York and Connecticut. Our vision is to provide the highest quality swim instruction to every residential pool and community pools in the US, while becoming the leading provider of swim education to underserved communities. We want dedicated and passionate owners to join our team and change the drowning statistics in their communities. Jump right in with us and help us write urSwim story…
The demand for year-round swim lessons came quickly as urSwim served 1,000+ clients across Long Island. This led to partnerships between urSwim and premium indoor swimming pool locations to offer swim instruction throughout the year.
Our Values
Deliver a Superior Swim Experience
Swimming is not a one-size-fits all. We tailor our [GEO AREA] swim program to meet the needs of both our children and adult swimmers. We pride ourselves in being the only swim school to offer at home swim lessons and indoor swim lessons.
Water Safety is Our #1 Priority
We want to create safe swimmers as soon as possible which is why we first teach survival floating, treading and safe water entries and exits. We want to ensure our swimmers gain the skills necessary to keep them safe in the water.
Skilled Aquatics Staff
While other swim schools spend their resources on fancy, over-designed pools, we use those resources on hiring the best aquatics team. On average our [GEO AREA] swim instructors have over 3+ years of experience and are trained by our leadership team. Did you know other at-home swim lesson providers never meet their swim staff or provide any uniformed training? We hire swim instructors and lifeguards that are committed to our values.
Emerging Aquatics Leader
We are building a national swim school franchise brand. We started with at-home swim instruction, then began providing our turn-key swim programs to our partners and lifeguard staffing to our communities. As an emerging swim school franchise, we aim to be the industry leader in aquatics.
Swim Lessons for Underserved Communities
Children in underserved communities are 5 times more likely to drown. Formal swim instruction can decrease the risk of drowning by 88% percent in children 1- 4 years old. Our swim school franchise includes a social responsibility mandate requiring that a portion of all revenue generated will be reserved to build programs and provide water safety education to all communities.
Create your own UrSwim Story