Comfort comes first
People learn to swim faster when they are relaxed. Warm water, calm sessions and no surprises do more for progress than any drill. A nervous swimmer who trusts the room will overtake a confident one who does not, every time.
About the school
A small swim school that has stayed small on purpose
Orlin Swim School has taught in the Riverbend area for over fifteen years. We began with two evening classes in a borrowed pool and grew, slowly and deliberately, into a timetable of around ninety lessons a week. Everything on this page explains how we got here and why we teach the way we do.
- Founded over fifteen years ago
- Around ninety lessons a week
- Eleven teachers, four assistants
- One four-lane pool, one teaching pool
15+years teaching in the Riverbend area
~90lessons taught in a typical week
8graded levels from first splash to distance
6children maximum in a beginner group
Our story
From two borrowed evening slots to a full timetable
Mara Kellet started the school after years of teaching evening classes for other people. She rented two Tuesday-night slots at a pool across town, printed a handful of leaflets, and taught eight adults who could not swim. Six of those eight finished the first term. Word spread the way it does with something that quietly works, and within a couple of years there were children's classes on Saturday mornings and a waiting list Mara had not planned for.
We could have grown faster. Every year somebody suggests a second site, a bigger pool, a franchise. We have said no each time, because the thing that makes the school worth choosing is the thing that gets lost first when a small school gets big: teachers who know every swimmer by name and notice, in week three, that a child is scared of the deep end rather than the water itself.
Today we teach at Meadowbrook Leisure Pool with a team of eleven teachers and four poolside assistants. The timetable is full most terms, the waiting lists are honest, and Mara still takes three groups a week. That is roughly where we intend to stay.
How the school has grown
- Year one — two evening adult classes in a borrowed pool, taught by one person.
- Years two to four — first children's classes on Saturdays; a second teacher joins.
- Year five — the move to Meadowbrook Leisure Pool and its separate teaching pool.
- Years six to ten — the graded level system settles into the eight levels we use now.
- Recent years — a stable team, a full timetable, and a coach-training programme for staff at other clubs.
We have never taken on outside investment and we are not part of a chain. The school is owned and run by the people who teach in it.
What we believe
The ideas the whole school is built on
None of this is complicated. It is just easy to lose sight of when a swim school gets busy, so we write it down and come back to it.
Small groups, always
A teacher can only watch so many people properly. We set ratios we will not exceed and we hold to them even when a slot is oversubscribed and it would be easy to squeeze one more in. Nobody swims well while queueing for a turn.
Say the honest thing
If a child is not ready to start, we will say so and suggest waiting a term rather than take money for wasted lessons. If a waiting list is long, we give a real estimate rather than a hopeful one. It costs us the odd booking and keeps the ones that matter.
Not a competitive club
We do not run squads, galas or timed trials. Our aim is a person who is safe, capable and happy in the water for the rest of their life. If a swimmer later wants a competitive club, we will gladly point them to a good one and tell them what to expect.
Where we teach
Meadowbrook Leisure Pool
We teach at Meadowbrook Leisure Pool, a four-lane indoor pool with a separate shallow teaching area. The main pool has a moveable floor at one end, which means beginners of any age can stand comfortably while they learn. The building has step-free access from the car park through to poolside, a family changing village, and a heated viewing gallery with seating for around forty people.
The teaching pool is kept between 30 and 31 degrees, warm enough for babies and for anyone standing still for much of a lesson. The main pool runs a little cooler because swimmers there are moving continuously. It is a comfortable, unglamorous building that does exactly what a swim school needs it to do.
Accessible throughout
Step-free access from the car park to poolside and to the gallery, accessible changing and toilet facilities, and a pool hoist available on request. Ask when you enquire and we will have it ready for the first lesson.
The teaching pool
A separate shallow pool kept at 30–31 degrees, where every beginner class begins. Warm, calm and shallow enough that a nervous swimmer of any age can stand while they find their feet.
The main pool
Four lanes with a moveable floor at one end. Swimmers move here from Level 3 onwards, once they are ready for full lengths and slightly cooler water. A lifeguard is on duty whenever it is in use.
The people
A stable team that stays
One of the quiet advantages of a small school is that our teachers tend to stay for years. Swimmers see the same faces term after term, which matters far more than most people realise, especially for a nervous child or a self-conscious adult.
Mara Kellet
Head teacher · founded the school
Mara set up the school and still takes three groups a week, mostly Level 1 and adult beginners. She oversees the coach-training programme, is the person who will call you back if you have a complaint, and would always rather hear about a problem early.
- Senior swimming teaching qualification
- Tutor and assessor for teaching awards
- Current first aid certification
Ines Bartok
Teacher · adults and stroke clinic
Ines runs most of our adult provision and learned to swim herself at thirty-one, which she mentions in the first lesson of every beginners course. She leads several of the online technique sessions in the coach-training library.
- Swimming teaching qualification, adult pathway
- Current first aid certification
- Teaches Adult Beginners, Improvers and Stroke Clinic
Meet the rest of the team
Devan, Rowan, Tomas, our other teachers, our four poolside assistants and Priya in the office all appear on the home page, alongside the levels they teach and the qualifications they hold. Everyone holds a recognised teaching qualification for their levels, keeps first aid certification current, and has completed the standard background checks for working with children.
Come and have a look
You are welcome to sit in the gallery and watch a class before committing to anything. Most people who do decide within about ten minutes, one way or the other. Either is fine with us.