MORE Swim School at Antrim Forum
Antrim and Newtownabbey council teaches children from five and adult beginners at Antrim Forum for £7.25 a lesson, in a pool refurbished with new village changing.
Who it suits
Families in Antrim who want a cheap local lesson and are comfortable with a class of up to twelve, plus adults starting from nothing on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
Why it stands out
- £7.25 a lesson, dropping to £6.21 for MORE members, in blocks of ten weeks
- No waiting list at all. The council says new spaces open up quickly enough not to need one
- Adult beginners and improvers run on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings between 6.30pm and 8.30pm
- Main pool has been relined, with new village changing including family cubicles with nappy units and baby seats
- Pool pod, a Changing Places facility and a lift in the building
Our verdict
Cheap, close and honest about not running a waiting list, which is more than most council programmes manage. Do not book here if your child needs close attention, because twelve to a class is a long way from the four pair classes private schools sell. Do not book a nervous beginner into ten weeks yet either: the Forum's own page says the learner pool is closed for maintenance with no reopening date, and the early stages are taught in it.
What it is
MORE Swim School is the swimming programme run by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council at three centres, alongside Valley Leisure Centre and Sixmile. The children’s classes take swimmers from five upwards in half hour slots. Adults are taught separately at two levels: a beginners class for water confidence and the basics, and an improvers class for anyone who can already manage a length and wants a stroke that holds up over distance.
Who should book
Parents in Antrim who are weighing up a local lesson against driving to Belfast, and adults who have put this off for years. The adult classes are the unusual part. Plenty of councils talk about adult lessons and then schedule them at eleven on a Tuesday morning. These run in the evening, between half six and half eight, on two nights a week across the three centres, which is a schedule an adult with a job can actually use.
What stands out
The council has taken the waiting list away rather than managing one, on the basis that places turn over fast enough. That is a claim worth testing with a phone call, but it is at least a clear position. The building has also had money spent on it. The main pool has been relined, the decks have new flooring, and the village changing has been rebuilt with more lockers, individual cubicles, family cubicles with nappy changing units and baby seats, and an accessible cubicle. There is a pool pod and a Changing Places facility too.
The verdict
You pay a minimum of ten weeks up front, which at the standard rate is £72.50, and MORE membership knocks about a pound off each lesson. The honest caveat sits at the top of the Forum’s own page: the learner pool is closed for essential maintenance and the council has not published a date for reopening. Since the lower stages are taught in that pool, anyone booking a beginner into ten weeks of lessons should confirm where those lessons will actually take place.
More MORE Swim School venues
All MORE Swim School venuesAntrim and Newtownabbey council teaches children from five and adult beginners at Valley Leisure Centre for £7.25 a lesson, with adult classes on Wednesday evenings only.