Alto Swim Club — Attraction in Palo Alto

Alto is the top swim club in the area, owned, run, and staffed by top-notch coaches. It welcomes every level of swimmer, from beginner to world class athlete, and draws serious swimmers from around the Bay Area, and beyond. Alto produces strong swimmers, confident competitors, committed athletes, and disciplined people who understand how to apply the confidence, commitment, and discipline they learn in the pool to other areas of their lives. When the coaches say their focus is on development of the whole person, they really mean it.

Young children who start off on one of the Alto teams will learn to swim well and be confident in the water. They will learn the basics of competition at fun events like candy meets. They will be taught how to set goals and how to work to achieve these goals in a step-by-step manner that produces actual results. They are trained to be responsible and independent – to show up on time, remember their swim bags, treat each other with respect. Parents learn the ropes alongside the children, so if you are not a swimmer – or an athlete of any kind – it doesn’t matter: you can trust the coaches to teach your children well.

As children grow in the program and enter the higher-level groups, they learn to support and compete against each other with equal passion. They race against each other fiercely and applaud each other’s victories just as fiercely; they not only know their own times by heart, but those of their teammates. The goals they seek to achieve become ever more incremental – you don’t easily drop time when you are already swimming at a high level - but they work doubly hard to attain them. Swimmers on the National Group travel about 50 days a year – I have no worries about my children handling themselves when they go off to college because they have already learned how to conduct themselves away from home through travel meets, which are strictly run and allow for no transgressions.

My two children have grown up in Alto (and its predecessor club) over the past decade; by the time they go off to college, they will have spent more of their formative years at Alto than at any school. The confidence, discipline, compassion, and core values they have learned through swimming with this team, and being instructed and guided by its coaches, will be of benefit to them for the rest of their...

Worst experience ever!!! They are completely unorganized and do not return phone calls. Their website is misleading. We went to a tryout and my son got into the minifit group. From my understanding was it was beginner practice to get kids to understand styles and practice in a group setting. We paid for the spring session and sent emails because we never got a welcome email or instructions on how to move forward. I sent an email and didn't get a response from the coaches till the day before practice with instructions on what to get and what we needed for practice.

The first day of the practice the coaches split the class up and had the beginners in a separate lane. My son has ADHD and slight speech delay, so no one even talked to me and was asked to leave the premises during practice. Getting back to practice they had him another little boy including 3 other girls practice the same way. My son was the only boy that did what they asked and wasn't scared. I will say the little girls were a little more advanced, but my son had at least a little more skills then the other five boys. He was listening and being attentive. 15 minutes into class they asked for the parents to come in and decided to tell the beginner group they can't be apart of this group and they needed to go somewhere else and refunds would be made. This was all in front of my child who tried his hardest and felt like he did something wrong. Highly inappropriate!!! Where is the inclusiveness in this program and they didn't even give him a chance. He even said this in front of the parents and their children as well.

Needless to say I will be taking this to higher levels including sending information to the city of Palo Alto. This was unacceptable and uncalled for! You do not do this to kids and...

Alto Swim Club is one of the top swim programs in the country. Their approach to swimming produces strong, committed, well-rounded athletes. The coaching staff are clearly dedicated and passionate about swimming. They are knowledgable about the sport and genuinely care about the well-being and aspirations of their athletes. The club values and prioritizes character development as much they value skills and training.

Alto welcomes every level of swimmer, from the beginner to the Olympian. There are a multitude of program options for those who are looking to enter the water for the first time, or for those who are looking to improve their skills to reach their goals and perform at a high level.

If you are a looking for a fun, positive, and challenging environment for your swimmer Alto is perfect for you! The community they have created is phenomenal and only continues to grow as each year...