Fitness Alive South Philly

★★★★★Amanda DiCicco

Okay so I’ve been coming to this gym for about a year and a half off and on. I do love to swim. I observe a lot when I’m drying off. The instructors are very good with the kids with the lessons. Just today I was there and a child was crying because he didn’t want the new instructor and the instructor sat with him to calm him down and the child wasn’t having it. They have patience of saints. I hope the kiddo finally went into the pool and had fun. He was a cute little guy. I felt bad when he was crying. I tried to call him down before the instructor came and introduced himself.

★★★★★Sat Ly

I took private adult lessons with Holly and my son has been taking kid lessons with her for almost 2 years. No matter how many swimmers she sees a day, she is always enthusiastic and gives you full on energy and good vibes. I am able to overcome my fear of water and be a competent swimmer thanks to her patience and encouragement. Holly always pushes my son to his full potential and can see him progressing each time he’s in the pool. The facility is always clean, easy to sign up for lessons and the team are quick to reply to emails. I highly recommend Fitness Alive to take yourself or your kids to learn how to swim, a super important survival skill! :)

★★★★★Christina Wayman

Both my two young girls have been swimming at Fitness Alive from 5 months old, as part of Baby bubbles. I cannot think of anything better I could have done to give my girls confidence inside or outside the pool than these classes. They have no fear of the water, they have so much fun (and burn so much energy), and they love going almost every Sunday. The teachers are attentive, despite the large class size, and help each parent-child duo feel comfortable together in the water. When my eldest was ready, Miss Holly suggested privates until old enough to move up into regular kid programming, and my daughter is THRIVING. She loves going to swim class, and I never anticipated her being so close to swimming on her own so soon! I can't rave enough about this place, and especially Miss Holly - I am so lucky to live close by!

★★★★★carly kaufman

We started with babies and bubbles and are now doing one on one sessions with miss holly. I have loved getting to see the growth in my son as well as the confidence I have with miss holly teach him and nurturing his love of swimming.

★★★★★Gina Krewer

I enrolled my daughter in Babies and Bubbles about 1.5 years ago when she was just 6 months old and we have consistently had lessons every week ever since and that is solely due to the comfort and skills that Ms. Holly teaches both the babies and their (nervous) parents. Since I have such a long history with this practice I will give you my experience from start to finish. Grab your popcorn and start scrolling. At six months old to a year my daughter was a breeze - she couldn’t even hold her head up, had no strong emotions about the water , didn’t seem to mind the pool and just enjoyed life. Ms. Holly sang, danced with the babies in the water and made everything fun. It was a breeze. Around age one year to 1.5 years, everything changed. Suddenly my daughter began to hate the water. She was disruptive, screamed on the top of her lungs and wanted no parts of swimming. Ms. Holly reassured us that this was normal and took extra time to soothe my child and calm her down EVERY SINGLE TIME. Do you know how mentally draining that is for the teacher especially when you’re trying to teach a pool full of parents and their children. She didn’t care - it didn’t phase Ms. Holly one bit. If my kid wanted to sit on the step and splash, she let her. If my kid wanted to scream, she let her. If my kid begged to be held by Ms. Holly - she made sure to be there and grab my kid. At no time, did Ms. Holly ever once make us feel embarrassed or unwelcome. She went above and beyond to comfort both me and my child. Fast forward to the past 6 months to present time and my daughter once again LOVES the water and all of Ms. Holly’s patience have paid off. I had a slight scare over the summer when my daughter was at a family member’s party and she slipped off of the pool steps and my daughter didn’t pop up so we had to grab her. I immediately called Ms. Holly and asked her if she could work with my daughter to specifically teach her how to gain her footing and rise to the top of the water if she does slip and after only two short weeks my daughter already was beginning to show improvements and actual skill! In the past 1.5+ years, we went from a baby that couldn’t even hold her up in the water to now a confident baby that is comfortable in the water which is the goal!!! And it’s 100% due to the patience and understanding of Ms. Holly!!! If you have any doubts about enrolling, please don’t hesitate. It’s a very welcoming and enjoyable experience even if your baby won’t be the most cooperative. Too many drowning accidents happen every single day and it’s our responsibility to try to give our babies the opportunity to learn how to swim!!! Ms. Holly, we love you and can’t thank you enough for all the joy you have given us!! My daughter looks forward to seeing you every week and singing baby shark with you!!!