Business makes a splash as it celebrates tenth anniversary

Sarah Miller set up Splash and Swim to provide children’s swimming lessons back in 2008, and now the busy mum of three has a team of six instructors teaching hundreds of children to swim each week across North Tyneside.

Sarah, from Whitley Bay, initially trained as a swimming instructor to be able to teach her own children to swim, but quickly recognised a potential business opportunity, offering swimming lessons in warmer pools, with small class sizes that did not cost the earth.

She said: “Ten years ago you had two main choices when it came to teaching your child to swim; pay a fortune for small, private lessons or wait on a long waiting list for larger, council-run classes.

“I wanted to offer an alternative and developed a business model to allow me to teach small class sizes with an instructor in the pool. From the outset we had a waiting list for lessons and I’ve now got a team of six experienced swimming instructors working with me to deliver classes across the whole week.”

In 2017, the Swim England accredited swim school launched its own programme for babies and toddlers, which Sarah says have been overwhelming successful.

She added: “Our baby and toddler programme is all about building confidence in the water and developing a sense of enjoyment.”

Splash and Swim offers lessons throughout the different stages of the Swim England Learn to swim programme at hydrotherapy pools in Monkseaton and Wallsend. However, Sarah and the team are looking at expanding the business into new venues across the region.