Our Story
À L'Eau Swim was born out of a true passion for both swimming and teaching. Ever since Arial was a toddler she loved the water. Her first job was as a lifeguard at her local pool which exposed her to many near-drowning incidents, solidifying her conviction that everyone should know how to swim.
When Arial began offering private lessons, she loved that it allowed her to cater to each swimmer’s individual strengths and goals. She adored seeing the pride on a toddler’s face the first time he put his head underwater. Seeing a little girl go from scared to excited to jump in the pool.
Arial began giving lessons while completing her bachelors of psychology, but quickly realized that her passion lay in teaching kids lifelong skills. Inspired to make a career shift, Arial founded À L'eau Swim in 2022.
Since then, Arial has been working every day to make her dream a reality. One where every kid in Montreal knows how to swim! :P
À L’Eau Swim has grown quickly in the past year and it is all thanks to you, our loyal customers. Thank you so much for your continued trust. We look forward to seeing what is in store next.
Arial Gregorio
Head Instructor
Arial has accumulated over 7 years of experience teaching swimming.
After completing a degree in psychology, she founded À L’Eau Swim which was born of her passion both for teaching and swimming. Through her experience teaching hundreds of kids, Arial has perfected her approach and developed a unique method for helping young kids swim on their own. Drawing on her experience in swimming and her knowledge of psychology, she has also worked with several adult and senior swimmers to overcome their fear of water and improve their technique, endurance and speed.
Arial is trained as an MSA swim instructor, a national lifeguard and is certified in First Aid and Rescue.
Our Areas of Service
Saint Laurent
Mont-Royal
Ahuntsic/Villeray
Rosemont/Petite-Patrie
Plateau Mont-Royal
Outremont
Côte-des-Neiges
Côte-Saint-Luc/Hampstead
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Lachine
Lasalle
Sud-Ouest
Verdun
Île des Soeurs
Westmount
NDG
Ville Marie
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Our Approach
At À L’EAU SWIM, we focus on building the fundamental skills first. This means helping swimmers develop confidence in the pool and overcome any fear of the water. We work patiently with individuals until they enjoy putting their head underwater and can easily float. Once these building blocks are mastered, learning strokes is easier and faster. Our instructors are familiar with the typical evolution of a swimmer’s ability in the water, allowing them to assess where each individual is and bring them to the next level. Our approach is detail-oriented and personalized, tailored to each swimmer’s age and individual goals.
1
Gain Confidence
For someone who is fearful of the water, the first step is gaining confidence and learning to put their head underwater.
2
Float
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The next step is learning to float on their own, both on their stomach and their back
3
Breathe
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The third step is flipping from their stomach to their back to master the correct breathing
4
Swim!
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The final step for the fundamental skills is to swim underwater, surfacing to breathe on their back
Once these 4 steps are mastered, the swimmer will learn the front crawl, back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke and sidestroke, as well as first aid techniques.
Why flip on their back to breathe?
Shouldn’t they just lift their head up?
Many swim instructors teach kids to lift their head up to breathe. At À L’EAU SWIM, years of experience have taught us that this is a mistake. When lifting your head up to breathe, your legs automatically fall towards the bottom, disrupting your body position. (Try it next time you’re in a pool, you’ll see!) This is especially true of young kids, since they don’t yet have a strong core. This means every time they lift their head to breathe, they lose the horizontal body position that is required for proper swimming. This mistakenly encourages them to panic and do the doggy paddle. There is a better way. By flipping on their back to breathe, their body position stays perfectly horizontal.
This also requires less effort and encourages them to flip onto their back if ever they’re in trouble in the pool and need to calmly catch their breath!
This method also guides swimmers to turn their head toward the side, which instills the proper technique for strokes such as the front crawl. Many swimmers who are falsely encouraged to breathe toward the front find it very difficult to master the crawl. Your child will have no trouble at all
What to expect
Regardless of age and ability, the swimmer can expect an engaging lesson where together with the instructor, they discuss their goals and define a plan.
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Most three year olds and up can learn to swim across their pool and climb out on their own in about 4-8 lessons. However this widely varies, depending on the swimmer’s native ability and confidence. Some start off terrified of the water, others are already little fish.
Teens and adults can expect to improve their technique, increase speed and endurance, and learn first aid techniques.
No matter which level the swimmer starts off at, our instructors will work with them to increase their comfort and ability.
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