About
Goldfish Swim School - Colonie, located at 145 Wolf Rd, Albany, NY, is a dedicated facility offering swimming lessons for children, focusing on water safety and skill development. It's known for its child-friendly environment, small class sizes, and highly-trained instructors, providing a comfortable and effective learning experience for young swimmers.
The pool(s) at Goldfish Swim School - Colonie are consistently maintained at a warm temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 32 degrees Celsius), designed to be shiver-free for the comfort of all swimmers.
What are people saying (AI review summary)? Goldfish Swim School garners mixed reviews, highlighting both strong positives and significant areas of concern. Many customers praise individual instructors, noting their positive impact on children's engagement and rapid swimming progress, particularly for younger children or those with special needs. Facilities like clean, warm pools are consistently appreciated, and some recent improvements in amenities, cleanliness, and overall atmosphere have been positively noted. However, a major recurring complaint is the frequent instructor changes, which negatively affect children's learning and comfort. Families also express frustration over slow progress or a perceived decline in skill development, even after years of enrollment. Policy issues are a significant source of dissatisfaction, including mandatory auto-pay with limited flexibility, advance payment requirements for cash/check, and confusing or restrictive makeup lesson policies. Administrative issues such as difficulty scheduling makeup classes for higher levels, poor communication (e.g., 'gaslighting' incidents), lost lesson credits, and unfulfilled promises (like free towels) are also cited. Logistical frustrations, such as waiting for weather-related closure announcements, add to the negative experiences for some, leading a few to conclude that Goldfish is 'too busy for their business.'
Location
Gallery
Amenities
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Accepts Credit Cards
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Accessible Entrance
Reviews
Listing Reviews
May 18th, 2025Amanda Baker
We used to love Goldfish. When my son was 1, all I wanted for Christmas for him was the 3 month certificate they had on sale for the holidays. It was purchased for us and we were so excited to start! My son started in the mini 1 when he was 14 months old. We moved him up to the mini 2 a month later as he was much older than babies in the mini 1. We LOVED our instructor, Kaitlyn, whom we had for a majority of the time. When we moved up to Junior 1, we made sure to get into a group with Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is still our favorite and my son lights up when he even sees her face at Goldfish. Sadly she was not our instructor for long, and we’ve had many instructor changes since then. While I do understand the constant instructor changes as far as staff being out sick or needing to cover another lesson, I know it’s really difficult especially with children who struggle with change, to not see the same friendly face each week. We have now officially been at Goldfish for 3 years. Unfortunately due to many absences due to illnesses and things out of our control, my son is still not swimming independently. It breaks my heart that my son WAS 2 stars away from mastering all of his skills (until his last assessment where he lost 3 stars in ONE lesson) in their entirety, and I’m pulling him from Goldfish. I do not agree with many of Goldfish’s policies such as if you pay cash or check you MUST pay 3 months in advance. I also dislike the fact that you must be enrolled in auto-pay because I would like to use a different card to pay at times but I do not know that until the time comes. Goldfish’s updated policy regarding make up lessons stated that make up lessons must be used within the same month of the missed lesson, but when you schedule a make up lesson the email you receive states that make ups can be used at any time while you’re enrolled in Goldfish. I don’t know which is correct but it doesn’t seem right to have people pay for a month and then miss their chance for a make up lesson if they are unable to use it that month, especially when it was already paid for. There have been times of inclement weather where I’ve had to sit and wait around to see if Goldfish would close or I would have to use an absence due to weather conditions. This was really frustrating when you have a 45 minute drive to Albany.
July 8th, 2025Kristi Shepler
Back when our kid was in the Jr levels it wasn't too difficult to make up classes. Now that she is in the Glider level there is maybe only 2 or 3 classes that are not full. Not to mention we have not noticed as much progress being made as we did before. Finally a Glider 1 class opened on a weekday and I quickly added my kiddo to the class. I even received a congratulations you are all set email. When I noticed the class disappeared from the list I called to confirm our spot. The girl at the front desk proceeded to gas light me saying I received an email that said it wasn't approved, despite forwarding it to them. I bought the most expensive package and at this rate wont even be able to use all the tokens not to mention I just lost a token in the middle of all this. We are still waiting on the free towel that came with the package but they cant seem to get in stock. In the end they are too busy for your business, find some place else.
June 28th, 2025Laura Caroppoli
Love it here. My son has come so far with his swimming in a short amount of time. His favorite instructor is Rebecca. He loves her and we've switched his lesson days as his progressed so he can stay with her as the instructor.
March 1st, 2025Vaidehi Patel
It is a great service and my son is going from last 5 years there every Saturday. He loved it much more and learned from basic to expert skills by him now more and more. Thank you so much for working hard with my kid all staffs members are so awesome and calling to make his make up classes as well. My son is in guilder 3 from guilder 1 now. He is mastered of his swimming skills for sure. There pool are so cleaned and water is warm in winter time too we are worried but they are maintaining temperatures inside it for peoples and kids babies are coming to get a swimming lessons and great experts in there swimming skills get appreciation as well after it is well done. I would suggested to anyone it is very kid friendly too and adults can seat and relaxed till your kids is doing his swimming lesson for half an hour mostly.
February 4th, 2023Cara T
This school is everything we ever needed for our special needs kiddo. Our 4 year old has been coming for almost a year. I couldn't of asked for a better team of individuals to help with teaching our kiddo to swim. In the past month our school has made a 180. There are amenities for parents (coffee and tea) treats for kiddos (yummy snacks) and is super clean! I mean it really feels brighter! Forgot your swimsuit (I have) there are kids suits here yo purchase...Towel (it happens)... same thing! It looks like its changing for the better... and this family greatly appreciates it! Update 2/2024... still just as fantastic! Same amenities available for purchase. Staff is wonderful with kids!
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Opening Hours
| Sunday | 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM |
|---|---|
| Monday | 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:00 AM – 7:30 PM |
| Friday | 9:00 AM – 8:30 PM |
| Saturday | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
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