There’s a new business in town…and it’s planning on making some waves!
Making Waves Swim School is opening its fifth location at 104 Cooper Drive in Guelph, this October.
“My wife and I actually met in Guelph, so we are really excited to be expanding to this area,” said Making Waves’ founder Tiernan Murphy. “We have built the pool out to our specifications. It has been designed to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children of all ages and skill levels can develop their swimming abilities, while having fun. Construction is well on track for our first classes in October,” he added.
Murphy was also excited to share that Making Waves is a certified B-Corp, or B-Corporation, which means a company that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency, and legal accountability, to balance profit and purpose.
“Making Waves has joined a global community of businesses committed to use their influence for good. We want to help shape a future where the sole measure of success is not profit, but rather, the positive change we bring to the world,” said Murphy.
To that end, Making Waves has dedicated resources towards meeting various environmental and social impact goals that you can read about on their website. But that’s not all. Making Waves promises the best in learn to swim instruction for your children.
“The key to our success is small classes, experienced instructors, and warm water,” explained Murphy. “We want to teach your kids what to do when they fall in the water. We want them to be safe, and we want them to have fun. The warm water is good for both the kids and the instructors. Our coaches are hired to teach and only teach, and because of that, we get the best instructors available, the ones that really want to help your kids learn.”
Murphy founded Making Waves way back in 1994, teaching in his parent’s backyard pool. “I taught their friends’ kids, word spread, and it grew organically from there, during my university days. I hired some friends to teach as well, and we rented other friend’s pools to expand each summer,” said Murphy.
He continued, “After university, I realized I really liked this work, that it was more than just a summer job for me. I started renting hotel pools and the like, and then, in the early 2000’s we started building our own pools that worked specifically for our small steps coaching methods. We specialize in the learn to swim market, and we now teach about 7000 kids each week how to swim.”
Murphy explained a lot of the coaches for the Guelph location are regular Making Waves coaches who are going to university in Guelph. “We were able to transfer quite a few coaches from our other locations, and of course, we will also be hiring and training some new ones who are from Guelph,” he said.
Making Waves has classes and instruction for everyone from two months (with parents) to adult and lifeguarding courses. If you are looking for the best in learn to swim programs, check out Making Waves at www.mwss.ca. Registration is underway now for fall classes.