swim instructor

swimming coach

lifeguard

actor

student teacher

Foss Swim School

I’ve only been working for FOSS for about 4 months, but in that time, I have fallen in love with it. The training is really helpful and comprehensive which made transitioning into teaching classes on my own much smoother, and all of my coworkers and management have been really supportive throughout the whole process. You also don’t have to have any knowledge of swimming to teach here. So many teachers at FOSS were never swimmers and didn’t know how to teach the strokes, but everyone is welcomed in and taught how to teach. The age range is also vast. It’s not just high school and college kids. There is a lot of knowledge and experience across the team and I know I always have someone I can ask for advice. 

In my first quarter teaching, I have become much more confident in my ability to adapt my teaching style to each student, and I have loved building relationships with the kids and their families.  We just had progress updates last week, and it was really great to celebrate how much the kids have improved since the beginning of the quarter. I also teach adult classes which were daunting at first, but I have enjoyed getting to help them achieve their goals. 

Shifts at FOSS go by very quickly and I never get bored. Classes in the learn to swim program are 30 minutes each and there are specific time increments for each skill, so everything is fast paced. There are still plenty of moments for silliness and fun.  All of the curriculum is laid out for you too which makes each class very structured. There are at most 4 kids in any learn to swim class which helped me feel more confident in my class management. 

The hardest part of the job for me is working in a 90°+ pool for several hours a week and the intensity of the chlorine. I would definitely recommend investing in some really good lotion and spending time building a consistent skin and hair care routine to manage the effects of the chlorine. 

Overall though, I have come to really enjoy working at FOSS. I was a swimmer for 13 years and taught lessons at several different places, but none of those compares to FOSS. I have never felt more supported and appreciated more in any other job and I look forward to every shift. 

I was hired in 2024, and I immediately knew I had found a great place to work. I felt appreciated. I started my training, which was 40 hours of both online and in-water. After this, you take the final exam. If you fail, you're able to take it again after a little more training. I passed first try, and starting the next quarter, I was given my own classes to teach. I was given support through the questions I had, and occasionally a second teacher in the water to help me.

Things started to feel a little weird, almost a year into the job. When I asked for support with a class, none was given. This crumbled my teacher score, and I was put on an action plan. I was told to ask for help when I needed it, but clearly, sometimes help isn't available to you. This hurt a lot, and it was very much made out to be entirely my own fault. It was around this time I decided to leave.

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Typical Day:

Arrive to your shift 15 minutes before it begins to get your resources ready and usually get a pre-shift talk from your manager. 

2-3 minutes before you get in the water for your first class, shower.

First class begins. Welcome each student and their parents. Begin class. 5 minutes of each skill, finished with 1 minute of free time/per child. This usually includes rings. 

Finish class 1-2 minutes early. This will affect you later, but there is no break between classes, and you need to talk to parents and get to your next class before it begins. Continue until the shift ends.

Do your assigned cleaning for 15 minutes, and then speak to your manager to let them know. Clock out.

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It's a great place to work, and the pay is better than other places. Good people, but you do need to be pretty much perfect to do well.

I absolutely loved being there. The students and parents were always fun, and I formed good relationships with both of them. 

This job is a trap for low income employees with little life experience and no college degree. It is easily one of the best paying jobs that requires no experience, but don’t let that fool you because once you start working there it is near impossible to leave. I kept advancing in the company, but not getting paid the correct wage for the work I was doing because I was still “in training” despite being scheduled as roles I was not fully trained in. Recently I got demoted because I am going to school part time and my school director gave me an ultimatum of “be a shift coordinator or lose your role as a deck assistant”. I have lost my role as deck assistant because I do not have the time or energy to be a shift coordinator. I have been a deck assistant for the longest amount of time at this location, but was moved back to teacher so that inexperienced and UNTRAINED coworkers could do my previous job FOR LESS PAY. It’s plain poor business strategy to demote your longest standing assistant manager, I was well on the route to being an SC but simply did not have the ability to do it at the moment. Foss would rather pay people less money to do a poor job than continue to pay people the correct wage to do good work. The amount of pressure to hit numbers that did not even apply to me is extremely debilitating. Paid time off is based on how many hours you work, pay is competitive and the more “special trainings” you get the more money you make. The business is very capitalist and runs on who can do what and get paid the least. They want to keep people in the company for forever but refuse to take no for an answer and would rather cut loses than continue progress with an employee who isn’t confident in taking a new role. Managers do not take personal problems seriously and there is constantly drama. Site director is practically never there, but criticizes the work we do despite not being around to support us when we need help. I can’t even write out all my frustrations with this job in one little review, but I will warn you that this job is a trap and everyone is constantly burnt out and sad.

A typical day at FOSS Swim School involves greeting students and families, preparing lesson plans, and teaching classes that focus on safety, water confidence, and developing strong swimming skills. Every group of kids is different, so no two classes ever feel the same. Some students come in excited and ready to swim, while others may feel nervous or unsure, which makes the work both meaningful and engaging. Over time, I have really grown as an instructor and communicator. I have learned how to adapt my teaching style, support children with different comfort levels in the water, and manage groups while still making every child feel seen and encouraged. I have also developed patience, leadership, and confidence in my ability to help kids succeed.

Management at FOSS is genuinely supportive and approachable. I feel like the leadership truly cares about staff well-being as well as the experience of the families we work with. They are willing to work with you around personal or outside commitments so that you can still perform well in your role while maintaining a healthy work life balance. The workplace culture is positive, team oriented, and focused on what is best for the kids. Coworkers help one another, communicate openly, and create an environment that feels welcoming and respectful.

The hardest part of the job can be balancing the needs of several students who are all at different levels of comfort and ability in the water. It requires patience, awareness, and creativity. At the same time, that challenge is also what makes the job incredibly rewarding. The most enjoyable part of working at FOSS Swim School is seeing children grow more confident, overcome fears, and light up when they master a new skill. Watching that progress and knowing you played a part in it makes the experience very fulfilling.

I worked at Foss for over 3 years. I really loved teaching there and I loved the work culture...at first. When I started, the site director at my location was genuinely supportive of the instructors and worked to create a healthy working environment. The second site director at my location was a bit rough around the edges. He tried to be encouraging but he was a bit aggressive in his management style, leading to an increase in turn-over. By the time the third site director was in charge, there was a lot of gossip among instructors and things got cliquey. Additionally, if you weren't willing to commit extra time to social activities with coworkers, you were reviewed more harshly which could eventually lead to termination. 

There was always talk of growth opportunities but they were a farce. They would promote people but then never give them shifts in their promoted role. They nickel and dime their instructors, only paying the teaching rate for the duration of scheduled classes, then nothing for the time it took to get ready for classes, and minimum wage for cleaning and meetings. Shift coordinators and those in higher positions were paid for the entirety of the shifts they managed but were paid the same as instructors if they were just teaching. 

Teaching in a warm pool for hours at a time takes a toll on your body, too. If you pay attention, you can see the difference in instructors that have been there for a while. They often have raspy voices, pale skin, and joint problems. I ended up leaving because of a combination of health issues and being fed up with the work culture and not being paid for my time.

When I first started working at Foss, I was terrified. How was I going to teach kids how to swim? As time went on, I started gaining the knowledge on how to cater to each child I was teaching in developing life long skills. Each shift feels like a new chapter, especially seeing a child whose swim journey has just started putting their eyes in the water for the first time. The pride you feel when they start to gain the confidence is amazing. You celebrate every new milestone with them and their parents. There’s a strong sense that you’re part of a system that knows what it’s doing. The curriculum gives you confidence, clear progressions, consistent language, and routines that help kids feel safe fast. You’re not guessing how to teach; you’re focused on how this child is responding today.  Emotionally, it’s a balance of energy and calm. Lessons move quickly, the pool deck is busy, and you’re constantly switching between encouragement, correction, and reassurance. At the same time, Foss emphasizes gentle teaching, so you’re modeling patience even when a child is scared, distracted, or resistant. You learn to celebrate very small victories because that’s how the program works, step by step. Management helps guide you into becoming the best teacher you can be. Being able to go to them and ask for guidance, shapes how you teach, how you approach different situations. All of my colleagues are constantly helping each other out. Whether it’s lesson planning, giving homework ideas, we are constantly bouncing new ideas and creative stories that we can implement in our lessons. 
Remembering the names of students can always be a challenge, especially during the first week, but repetition is always the key!

When I started my job as a swimming instructor, I had no idea what to expect having never taught swimming lessons before. My managers really let me take my time getting to know the material and plan my schedule, getting my comfortable with the flow of the work while finding my feet in the water. I felt immediately welcomed and comfortable with all of my coworkers, quickly finding a home with other fun-loving, kind, and goofy people who cared about their students and their teammates. Every day brings new challenges but also new joys! Some days, students are rowdy, the pool is loud and bright, the pace is exhausting, and you’ll feel deeply overwhelmed by the chaos of the day; then you’ll see a student have breakthrough, you’ll have a coworker step in to help you manage a task, and you’ll get an expression of gratitude from a parent. I have truly come into a new level of self-confidence in my leadership and problem-solving abilities. By far, getting to watch what I teach manifest in my students’ skills before my eyes is so rewarding that it makes the most exhausting days worthwhile. The work’s results feel tangible and the kind cheerleading from my bosses and fellow teachers always keeps my grounded.  

Foss has been a wonderful place for me to work, learn, and grow. This job is great for building communication skills; you're taught how to communicate physical swim skills to people of all ages, how to keep multiple children happy and engaged at the same time, and how to adjust teaching based on student learning styles. In the pool, as a teacher or TA, you are often tasked with keeping 3/4 kids safe in your lane, so physical awareness is also something that improves as you work here. Foss is a place where learning is constant, staff included. You will often get advice on how to more easily run your class, how to manage certain behaviors in students, better ways to explain things to kids or parents, or new swim drills to improve the proficiency of students' skills.

The workplace culture at Foss is very collaborative and friendly. It's easy to build professional workplace relationships that are supportive and questions are always welcome.

My favorite part of the job is working with the kids and the relationships you get to build with them and their families. There are families who will be there for years, and I love being able to work with them multiple times and see how they grow and change over the years you spend teaching their children. Being able to have fun with these kids is always a highlight of my day.

I worked at Foss for around 6-7 months. The job was wonderful, my managers were fun and super flexible and understanding, the paychecks were fantastic, and it is a great job for anyone working with kids. It does teach survival swimming rather than swimming to be good on a competitive level, but it is a fine introduction for any kid. That being said, I would not recommend working there to ANYONE. The chemicals in the pool are TERRIBLE. I myself got not only chlorine rashes, but went to the doctor for chlorine burns. All of my armhair fell out, as did every instructors, and we were told that it was completely normal. It doesn't matter how many times you shower, your skin will hurt after working a shift. It would keep me up at night (not exaggerating).  One of my co-workers went to the doctor about these issues and was told she was not allowed to be in the pool for more than 4 hours a week because of how harmful it was. Numerous times management was approached about this issue by multiple instructors and we were told that it was completely normal,  within state regulation, and that we were not to talk about it. There is almost no amount of money I could get paid to go back, and only because of the pool. It is tragic, because the management is amazing, as are the co-workers and the job itself. Nothing can make up for how toxic the chemicals are. 

I began working at Foss when I was finishing my undergrad in University after I was recommended the job by another employee. It was a wonderful part-time opportunity that offers a competitive pay for a part-time position, and worked well with my class schedule. The training at Foss is in-depth and I have been able to see how they continue to update training in order to better prepare new teachers which has been wonderful to see. I have always felt like I have been supported in my  development as an instructor, with there being additional trainings and opportunities to grow. The management team has always made me feel supported and from my experience has maintained good communication with me as well as other staff members. Even after working here for a few years it has continued to be something that is fulfilling, as we get to meet new students and see old ones continue to make progress. It is fun to see how far each student has come in their swimming journey and have the opportunity to watch them grow up.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Swim instructor 77 salaries reported	$22.69 per hour
Swimming coach 16 salaries reported	$23.02 per hour
Lifeguard 19 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Actor 123 salaries reported	$21.60 per hour
Student teacher 118 salaries reported	$21.60 per hour

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