CARMEL — There’s a new place to swim in central Indiana! The Carmel Swim Academy celebrated their grand opening and ribbon cutting event , July 12th. After renting pools throughout the area, the community driven swim club says having their own space will make a big splash.

Not much goes better with summer than swimming and the Carmel Swim Academy is certainly riding the wave when it comes to engaging the community through aquatic fun. Carmel Swim Academy Director Nicole Bills hopes kiddos don’t get the chance to dry off once the summer fun is through since the academy pool remains 84 degrees rain or shine, 365 days a year – hopefully creating a love of swimming that lasts all year long even when the weather turns sour.

“Because our water is warm and the facility is warm, even though it might be cold outside it feels like a tropical island in there and so it’s just a really fun place for kids to come in, swim, they get to play but they get to still learn through that play,” Bills said. “You need to swim year round so that everything you learn in the summer, you don’t forget over the year and have to start all over.” 

Call it water retention… the folks at Carmel Swim Academy are hoping your child finds a love of water at an early age. It’s fun, while also promoting proper safety.

Nationwide, nearly half of all Americans don’t know how to swim and according to Carmel Swim Director of Business Development Maggie Mestrich, drowning remains one of the leading causes of injury or death in children. While swim lessons don’t ‘drown proof’ anyone, Mestrich says it helps a lot, reducing the risk of drowning by nearly 88 percent.

Classes at the Carmel Swim Academy are not typically free, but they just might be for your child.

“One of the things that we’re doing to combat that is to offer free swim lessons to any child who is on free or reduced lunch or whose family is enrolled in a county utility assistance program,” Mestrich said. “So, by opening up this space that is our own, we are quadrupling the capacity of our existing free swim lesson program to make sure we are doing our part to make sure that financial need is not a barrier to learning how to swim.”

The Carmel Swim Academy has space for more than 1,300 swimmers weekly and has nearly 60 hours of adult focussed programs planned each week as well. 

Parent/Caregiver classes start for children from six months old to three years old  

If your child is seven years old or younger, it costs an average of $30 a session, with the lessons being around 35 minutes long.

For a child that is eight or older, they are in the water for 45 minutes for each class, and those cost $35 per session. Individuals do not need to be Carmel residents to participate.

The Carmel Swim Academy has maintained area programming for nearly 20 years but was previously renting space until now. Construction for the 830 City Center Drive location began in 2021.

The build was made possible in part by donations of more than $707,000 to fund the facilities construction.

“What’s most important to us right now is providing opportunities for young children in our community to learn to swim,” Mestrich said. “This is such a huge step for parents to take to make sure their children are safe this summer and beyond.”