Peninsula Swim School turns 50

A fun, relaxed environment makes the learning process that much easier, and it’s part of what keeps clients coming back. Many have returned years later with their own kids and even grandchildren for lessons.

When the couple founded the school in 1968, swim schools weren’t a year-round business, and there were not many options for babies. So they increasingly catered lessons to kids, and eventually became the first swim school on the Peninsula to offer them to babies under the age of 1, prompting a lot of media coverage at the time, Aitken said.

“It seemed like a natural thing to start at a young age and it was a need that wasn’t being addressed,” he said. “The child is born ready to swim and as long as you make it fun and don’t rush it, it’s the most natural thing in the world.”

But the concept of baby swim lessons was not immediately accepted, Aitken said.

“The American Medical Association was saying it wasn’t good because children would think they could swim when they can’t. Everyone thought children would have ear infections, so we had to help develop that it really was a good thing, and nowadays, it’s totally accepted,” he said.

Aitken said those early swim lessons go a long way to improving coordination, building muscle, boosting confidence and they prepare kids for success in just about any other sport.

“We really pride ourselves on picking out the kids that are the least likely to be successful swimmers and see if we can’t give them that gift of loving the water and being a swimmer,” he said. “There’s nothing that makes you feel better than the mom who thought her child wouldn’t even get in the pool saying ‘oh my, my child’s swimming and loving it and cries when it’s time to go home.’”

The Aitkens were also motivated to teach swimming to such young ages for safety reasons; a relative of theirs lost two children to drowning.

These days, most of their customers range from 4 months to 7 years in age, but they’ll take kids as young as 9 days old and they teach adults as well.

Aitken taught Jerry Rice how to swim after the football Hall-of-Famer brought his kids to their school for lessons. Joe Montana, Barry Bonds, Pattie Hurst and Joan Baez are also former clients.

Prior to opening the Peninsula Swim School, John was a custodian at Lockheed Martin and Lynette was an elementary school teacher in Belmont. They purchased the pool with their honeymoon money and ran it for 10 years before having children of their own. It wasn’t long before the swim lessons began.

“[Our kids] didn’t have a choice,” he said.

Both their children were on swim teams at early ages, played water polo and became All-American swimmers. Their son later played football at Columbia University on a grant, and Aitken credits his swimming skills for getting him there.

Aitken also taught one of his daughter’s high school friends how to swim. She could hardly tread water when the lessons began. Years later she was competing in the Olympics.

Aitken doesn’t get in the water nearly as much these days, but continues to pass down his love of swimming.

“I’ve taught all my grandkids, it’s the one thing that’s my special pride and joy to introduce them to the water,” he said.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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