Unsatisfied with his son’s swim lessons and life on Bay Street, Nitin Gambhir decided to do something about it by leaving his job and opening a British Swim School.
After establishing his first swim school in Aurora in 2023, followed by a location in Markham earlier this year, Gambhir has just opened his second Aurora location.
The former Bay Street worker left finance a few years ago because he wanted to find work that was more “fulfilling.” He first opened a tutoring school, then he grew frustrated by his experience with his son’s swimming lessons.
“We actually had a very poor experience with a private swim school, which set us back, and then COVID hit, and so there was less exposure to water,” he said. “I just wanted to provide a service that would have met my standards as a parent.”
Gambhir's newest British Swim School location is in the LA Fitness in Bayview Avenue in Aurora, while he continues to operate a school out of the Microtel Inn & Suites on Goulding Avenue.
The first British Swim School was opened in Manchester, England in the 1980s and has expanded to more than 450 locations.
The lessons focus on survival skills for young swimmers first, teaching young children how to get comfortable in the water before developing their strokes.
“If you’re at a cottage on a dock and you fall into the water, you don’t always have your goggles on. So you have to comfortable,” he said.
The schools also do a “survival week,” where students wear pyjamas into the pool, and where they learn how to safely help a friend who’s having difficulty swimming. They also run programs specifically for adults learning to swim, with Gambhir saying they have many newcomers to Canada come to learn swimming for the first time because they want to “enjoy the lakes.”
The lessons are not broken into sessions, meaning there’s more flexibility for when swimmers can join a class, and when they can move up a level, something Gambhir said was a big frustration for him with his son’s lessons in the past.
"Nitin's commitment to swim safety and teaching water survival skills is inspiring,” president of British Swim School, Ashley Gundlach said in a news release. “We are excited to support him as he expands and wish him great success."
Lessons run on Monday and Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Winter lessons make summer swimmers,” said Gambhir. “The goal for our company in Aurora is to prevent as many drownings as possible, and to make safe and happy swimmers.”
Lessons at the swim school can be booked online.
