About
Crawfish Swim School – Swim Programs offers swimming lessons through group classes, private classes, and adaptive aquatics. The program uses a curriculum for building strong, confident swimmers that has been developed over more than 20 years of experience. Lessons take place in an indoor, heated pool with warm 88 degree water and air temperature.
• Schedule: Offering swimming lessons 7 days per week, year round in a one class per week format.
The pool is chlorinated with a UV and ozone filtration system, and the sanitation system is described as providing sparkling-clean water without the heavy chlorine effects of red eyes, itchy skin, or damaged hair. A top-of-the-line air filtration system is used to provide high indoor air quality, including for those with respiratory problems. Families have access to a comfortable viewing area with Wi‑Fi, family changing rooms, and an interactive play area. Makeup classes are offered for missed lessons, and both small group and private classes are available. The program states that it teaches with love, compassion, and empathy, and that each skill, lesson, and relationship with swimmers and their parents is taken to heart as swimming is treated as an essential skill and a gift for life.
Crawfish Aquatics, the organization behind Crawfish Swim School, was founded in 1999, and swimming lessons started in the summer of 2000. By the summer of 2016, over 4,000 children attended the six swimming lesson sessions offered between April and July. Crawfish Swim School opened its first swim school on Siegen Lane in January 2017, and its second location in Prairieville opened in June 2018. Crawfish Aquatics established a second home in Lafayette in 2010 and a third location on the campus of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in 2013. Exerfit and Crawfish Aquatics hosted the Stanford Men’s swim team Fall Training Camp from 2006 to 2011, and from 2005 to 2012, Dr. Steven Ripple served as the voluntary strength and conditioning coach for the Stanford Men’s swim team.
The founders of Crawfish Swim School are Steve and Jan Ripple. Dr. Steven Ripple is a New Orleans native, a graduate of Jesuit High School, and a graduate of Louisiana State University and the LSU School of Dentistry, where he earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery degree. He completed his Pediatric Dental Residency program at the University of Kentucky with extensive training in anesthesia and in treating medically compromised, handicapped, and special needs children. Jan Ripple established the Capital City Swim League as the governing body of swimming for the Baton Rouge area and, as the Parkview Baptist Eagles Head Coach, led the team to six state champion titles. Jan held the title of U.S. Triathlete of the Year and was a World and National Champion, and Shelly was a U.S. senior national champion, American record holder, World Champion, NCAA champion, and 24-time NCAA All American at Stanford University.
Jan’s establishment of the Capital City Swim League is one example of the program’s involvement in the local swimming community. Parent testimonials describe staff and instructors as answering questions with care and clarity and note that children have had noticeable improvement every session. Parents report that coaches at different lesson levels, from Mommy and Me to Rising Stars, care about the development of the child and work to meet the needs of each family. Families also describe instructors as knowledgeable, encouraging, and friendly, greeting children by name and asking about their week, birthdays, and holidays. One parent reports that a child in the program is able to jump off the side of the pool, swim to the side, pull himself out, float on his stomach and back, swim across the pool with his face in the water, swim on his back, swim freestyle, and is beginning to work on turning his head to take a breath. Other parents note that they have seen their children’s excitement and skill level improve weekly, that the facility is very nice and clean, and that their young child is not afraid of the water and is already kicking to move across the pool.
Last updated July 10, 2026.
• Schedule: Offering swimming lessons 7 days per week, year round in a one class per week format.
The pool is chlorinated with a UV and ozone filtration system, and the sanitation system is described as providing sparkling-clean water without the heavy chlorine effects of red eyes, itchy skin, or damaged hair. A top-of-the-line air filtration system is used to provide high indoor air quality, including for those with respiratory problems. Families have access to a comfortable viewing area with Wi‑Fi, family changing rooms, and an interactive play area. Makeup classes are offered for missed lessons, and both small group and private classes are available. The program states that it teaches with love, compassion, and empathy, and that each skill, lesson, and relationship with swimmers and their parents is taken to heart as swimming is treated as an essential skill and a gift for life.
Crawfish Aquatics, the organization behind Crawfish Swim School, was founded in 1999, and swimming lessons started in the summer of 2000. By the summer of 2016, over 4,000 children attended the six swimming lesson sessions offered between April and July. Crawfish Swim School opened its first swim school on Siegen Lane in January 2017, and its second location in Prairieville opened in June 2018. Crawfish Aquatics established a second home in Lafayette in 2010 and a third location on the campus of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in 2013. Exerfit and Crawfish Aquatics hosted the Stanford Men’s swim team Fall Training Camp from 2006 to 2011, and from 2005 to 2012, Dr. Steven Ripple served as the voluntary strength and conditioning coach for the Stanford Men’s swim team.
The founders of Crawfish Swim School are Steve and Jan Ripple. Dr. Steven Ripple is a New Orleans native, a graduate of Jesuit High School, and a graduate of Louisiana State University and the LSU School of Dentistry, where he earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery degree. He completed his Pediatric Dental Residency program at the University of Kentucky with extensive training in anesthesia and in treating medically compromised, handicapped, and special needs children. Jan Ripple established the Capital City Swim League as the governing body of swimming for the Baton Rouge area and, as the Parkview Baptist Eagles Head Coach, led the team to six state champion titles. Jan held the title of U.S. Triathlete of the Year and was a World and National Champion, and Shelly was a U.S. senior national champion, American record holder, World Champion, NCAA champion, and 24-time NCAA All American at Stanford University.
Jan’s establishment of the Capital City Swim League is one example of the program’s involvement in the local swimming community. Parent testimonials describe staff and instructors as answering questions with care and clarity and note that children have had noticeable improvement every session. Parents report that coaches at different lesson levels, from Mommy and Me to Rising Stars, care about the development of the child and work to meet the needs of each family. Families also describe instructors as knowledgeable, encouraging, and friendly, greeting children by name and asking about their week, birthdays, and holidays. One parent reports that a child in the program is able to jump off the side of the pool, swim to the side, pull himself out, float on his stomach and back, swim across the pool with his face in the water, swim on his back, swim freestyle, and is beginning to work on turning his head to take a breath. Other parents note that they have seen their children’s excitement and skill level improve weekly, that the facility is very nice and clean, and that their young child is not afraid of the water and is already kicking to move across the pool.
Last updated July 10, 2026.
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