SwimExpert’s founder Nicholas was a competitive swimmer and qualified as a swimming teacher, coach and personal trainer.  He realised that he enjoyed helping people learn to swim and improve their swimming on a 1-2-1 basis and the idea of SwimExpert was borne; 1-2-1 private tuition at premium hotel venues.

By mid 2008 the business had expanded and had agreements to offer lessons at six hotel venues in the Berkshire area. Nicholas was joined by a team of experienced teachers.  It was clear that demand for private lessons was strong.

By 2011 the business had growth to over a dozen venues and a large team of instructors.  No longer able to manage the administration singlehandedly as well as teach, Nicholas made the decision to stop teaching and concentrate on growing the business and setting teaching standards.  2011 marked the opening of a small support administration office in Reading and SwimExpert incorporating as a limited company.

Constantly being asked by customers what swimming accessories we recommended and where to purchase them, we realised there was an opportunity to offer a range of learn to swim products to our customers and more widely through an online store. We opened theswimmingshop.com in 2014 and it currently sells over 2,500 products covering the whole range of swimwear and gear for swimmers of all abilities.

By 2016 SwimExpert had grown to over 20 venues (mainly around Berkshire and the South East) but we recognised that not everyone could afford 1-2-1 lessons and yet traditional group lessons offered by others were often not very successful or good value for money.  We developed HydroKidz to fill the gap; ultra small group lessons (average 3 students per class!) that are fun, safe and progressive.  Operating at private schools, our first venue in Reading was an instant success.

During Covid we had the opportunity to acquire a large competitor, Simply Swim, and this cemented our position as one of the largest specialist swim e-tailers in the UK.  We absorbed Simply Swim into our operations and moved to a much larger warehouse and brand new offices in central Reading. Our e-commerce activities now include a partnership with Decathlon and we’ve also developed and sourced over 50 own brand items.

My Proud Moments makes unique children’s certificate and award cases – primarily for young swimmers but also for over a dozen other activities including dance and gymnastics.  On the retirement of the owner in 2022 we acquired the business and have absorbed it into our ecommerce activities. 

Fashy gmbH is a premier swimwear and accessory brand in Germany and is available in dozens of other countries around the world.  We were offered the opportunity to take on the distributorship of Fashy and Aquafeel, its premium swim range, for the whole of the UK and a five year agreement began in 2023.

As we enter 2025, SwimExpert and HydroKidz will celebrate having conducted over 0.25 million lessons since its inception.  We operate from over 30 venues and deliver thousands of hours of lessons each year with our team of instructors, ably supported by a dedicated and hard working office team.