FAQs

Pikes Peak Athletics provides swim lessons for all ages and levels year-round at Pikes Peak Athletics Training Center (central Colorado Springs) and The Country Club of Colorado (south Colorado Springs). Swim lessons are also available at other sites depending on the season.

See Our Locations >

We offer a low instructor to swimmer ratio.

1:3 | PLittle
1:4 | Little Pikes 1, 2 and 3
1:6 | Water Baby
1:8 | Base Camp

All swim lessons are 30 minutes long. All Base Camp lessons are 45 minutes long.

We place kids in the appropriate class based on skill and age. You can visit our Find My Level help tool for lesson placement.

On our website, you will find a list of our levels under the Curriculum/Levels tab which includes a description of the focus for each level.

We ask that all parents be there to make sure their child gets into the water for their class and is there to get them when the class is over. As soon as the class is over, responsibility of the child transfers back to the parent. At The Country Club of Colorado and at The Club at Flying Horse, if the child wants to swim after their lesson, they need to get out of the water and ask you before reentering the water (members only).

LIGHTNING CLOSURE AT CCOC, FLYING HORSE, OR VALLEY SWIM CLUB:
All lessons will move to Pikes Peak Athletics Training Center at the same time scheduled unless otherwise advised. PPATC provides a 10 lane x 25 yard lap pool as well as warm-water teaching pool at 90 degrees.

602 Elkton Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80907

WINTER WEATHER: 

The season is starting to change, and snow is right around the corner!  At Pikes Peak Athletics Training Center, we strive to remain open at all times, no matter the weather, as Colorado Springs weather can vary drastically from neighborhood to neighborhood. If we feel it’s best to close the facility for the safety of our staff and patrons, it will be communicated through email and social media at the earliest possible moment.

While we cannot guarantee the availability of make-up lessons, we are happy to do our best to accommodate families who must miss on a space available basis at any point while currently enrolled.

Should you miss a lesson and wish to schedule a make-up lesson, please contact us at trainingcenter@pikespeakathletics.com or (719) 400-7450 for availability in classes with a scheduled absence.

If there are no scheduled absences, you are welcome to call back at your convenience as absences are scheduled ongoing by other families. We recommend contacting us for available spots the morning you wish to schedule your make-up. While we understand the desire to plan ahead, we’ve found we often have more spots to offer day-of.

Please note:

• Families may make-up 2 missed lessons each month.
• Make-up lessons are available to swimmers who are currently enrolled.
• Series Group Lessons are not eligible for make-ups.
• Make-up lessons are not credits and cannot be applied to future tuition.

*Private lesson make-ups may be requested and offered based on instructor availability for a $37 fee. 

The more often your child is in the water, the faster they will learn. However, we understand that schedules get very busy, so we try to create a flexible schedule to accommodate. We also believe in consistency. If you can’t come more than once a week, being consistent each week helps to ensure progress.

Private and Semi-Private Lesson Guidelines

Private and Semi-Private lessons are available to swimmers of all ages. For our swimmers under 12 years, private lessons are intended to supplement, not replace, group swimming lessons. We highly recommend utilizing private lessons in addition to regularly attending group lessons for the purpose of:

Focused instruction on specific skills inhibiting advancement.

Focused instruction in preparation for Base Camp and/or swim team.

Addressing high levels of fear and anxiety for boosted confidence in group lessons.

Meeting the needs of special needs swimmers for smoother integration into group lessons.

Private and Semi-Private Lesson Standards

Private lessons must be scheduled outside of the following hours:

Monday – Friday | 4:00pm – 6:00pm

Saturday | 9:00am – 12:00pm

Sunday | 10:00am – 12:00pm

We ask private and semi-private lessons give a minimum of 24-hour notice to their instructor(s) in the event they cannot attend their scheduled lesson to ensure the lesson can be rescheduled/made up. Less than 24-hour notice will result in a lesson being used from their package without the option to make-up said lesson.

4-packs must be used within 12 weeks of purchase, including any rescheduled lessons.

8 packs must be used within 16 weeks of purchase, including any rescheduled lessons.

Add your swimmer to our private lesson waitlist here or contact us at trainingcenter@pikespeakathletics.com or (719) 400-7450.

Seasonal Private Lesson Series are also available for online enrollment at our off-site locations, visit the location below for more details and enrollment:

• The Country Club of Colorado
• Garden of the Gods Resort and Club
• The Club at Flying Horse

We’re available for more than one day/time: Families may “register” for more than one waitlist based on their availability, but we ask families register for no more than two waitlists so we can fulfill your request on your ideal day/time more efficiently.

We want to take Semi-Private Lessons: Any private lesson may be scheduled as a semi-private lesson in the event swimmers are at the same level. A note can be added to your private lesson waitlist indicating you’d like this lesson to be a semi-private lesson and the name of the second swimmer.

Our preferred day/time isn’t available for registration online: This is likely because the waitlist is currently full. We only allow 3 families per waitlist so we can fulfill requests on a reasonable timeline.

Why don’t you offer private lessons Monday – Friday 4pm – 6pm, Saturday 9am – 12pm, or Sunday before 12pm? We do not have the pool space during these hours in conjunction with our other programs in a way that won’t sacrifice the quality of our programs.

We used to take private lessons here before and were able to schedule Monday – Friday 4pm – 6pm, Saturday 9am – 12pm, or Sunday before 12pm – why can’t we just have our old spot back? Our programs continue to grow exponentially, and we no longer have the pool space to accommodate private lessons in conjunction with our other programs in a way that will ensure ongoing quality.

All Pikes Peaks Athletics instructors and assistants go through an extensive training and shadowing period. All instructors are also CPR/First Aid certified.

Every child is different. It depends on their level of fear, how quickly they adjust to new people/surroundings, the exposure they’ve had to the water, etc.

First of all, go swimming as much as possible. The more they swim, even without an instructor, the more comfortable they will get in the water and the easier they will learn the skills.

Second, always ask your instructor if your swimmer has any “homework”. This is more common in the lower levels. Things like practicing bubbles, putting eyes in the water, getting used to water getting in the ears on back float, etc. can all be practiced in the bath tub. If you notice that your child gets confused by the arm or leg motions, have them practice at home!

Finally, talk about swim lessons. Brag to your friends and family when you child is near about how well they are doing. Bringing up swim lessons outside of lesson time gets them excited to come back. The more excited they are, they faster they will learn!

Under the drop down menu above, click Registration or choose the Swim Lesson drop down menu above and select Registration. From here, you will be taken to the registration program which will show the locations and classes available. You can also choose Locations to see a full class list for each location. Select Register next the desired class.

Private and Semi-Private lessons:  Please contact us to set up private lessons. After an instructor, day and time is scheduled, our staff will create a class for you to register online.

If, when registering, you experience any issues or are unsure of what level to sign-up for, please contact (719) 400-7450 or trainingcenter@pikespeakathletics.com and someone will assist you.

All that is needed for the first day is a swim suit, towel, and goggles (if desired). Not everyone uses goggles, so that is up to you. We encourage learning to swim with and without goggles.

Please refer to Price Overview under Swim Lessons

To continue providing top quality instruction for the lesson program, there is a minimum requirement of two swimmers per group lesson. If your child is the only swimmer registered for the group lesson, Pikes Peak Athletics will contact you providing an option to continue at the designated time chosen as a semi-private lesson (a discount from a private lesson cost) or to provide other group lesson time options.

When registering, you will be asked for your credit card. All discounts will be applied by staff on the back end before your card is charged. Club accounts can also be charged, although a credit card is still required to hold your child’s spot in the class. Accounts will be billed on the 16th of the month prior to the enrolled session. If enrolled after the 16th of the month, cards will be charged after review for any discounts.

PPA offers monthly rolling sessions year-round at Pikes Peak Athletics Training Center (off-site locations may differ during the summer). Once enrolled in a class, swimmer’s spot will be guaranteed (pre-enrolled) into the coming months until child moves up in level, wants to move time, or wants to withdraw from class. All swimmers registered in current month must withdraw for upcoming month before the 15th by filling out the lesson withdrawal form. On the 15th of the month, all classes will be copied for the next month and those who have requested to withdraw will be dropped from the upcoming month. The class will open for other registrations on the 16th of the month.