Atlanta Swim Academy makes summer safer for swimmers

MARIETTA, Ga. - Metro Atlanta looked very different back in 1985: the Olympics were more than a decade away, there was no Georgia Aquarium yet, and our famous "Spaghetti Junction" was still being built.

But that same year, a local family began teaching residents how to swim — and more than 40 years later, that mission remains unchanged.

This morning on Good Day Atlanta, we made a return visit to Marietta’s Atlanta Swim Academy, the family-owned swim school created in 1985 by Ron and Barb Grzelka. Today, their son Brad runs the business, continuing to spread the message of water safety and helping new generations of Metro Atlantans feel comfortable in the water. The school’s year-round curriculum includes group and private lessons, free introductory lessons for children 3 to 5 months old, and the popular Camp H2O for kids ages 5 to 10 years old. 

Camp H2O includes week-long summer camps limited to 40 campers per week, which Grzelka and his team say allows for plenty of instructor-student time. Camps run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and include swim lessons and daily skill updates along with games and other fun activities. And for those young swimmers who get hooked on the sport, Atlanta Swim Academy also hosts SwimFIT, a year-round pre-competitive program for swimmers ages 8 to 14 years old. 

Atlanta Swim Academy is located at 732 Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta — for more information on the business, click here. And click the video player in this article to check out our morning there, making a "splash" and getting some very important tips on water safety.