By Collin Breaux | Twitter: @collin_breaux
After struggling to start a second location in Rancho Mission Viejo, Evolution Swim Academy finally opened in the community’s Los Patrones Business Park in October 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic, of course, was behind the delay for the swimming school, which features an indoor pool and offers lessons to kids.
“We started the process in what was probably the worst timing ever in 2019,” Evolution Swim founder and former Olympic swimmer Felipe Delgado said. “We got it open, man. I doubted it would ever happen, but the entrepreneurial spirit is to keep going.”
Evolution Swim’s first location is nearby in Mission Viejo. Delgado decided to open a second spot in RMV since he’s been giving swimming lessons at the community’s homeowner association pools for the past several years.
After climbing up the proverbial hill to open the second site, Delgado feels good about offering swimming services to clients in RMV, since residents of The Ranch have responded well to the new swimming opportunities.
Evolution Swim teaches kids to be safe when out in the water and how to become more confident swimmers. Learning to swim can help kids develop, because it may take them out their comfort zone and has physical and mental benefits, Delgado said.
The students they work with range in age, from 3 months to 12 years old. Opening a swim training center in South Orange County makes sense because there are so many areas in coastal Southern California where kids can be at risk for drowning, Delgado said.
Evolution Swim is open year-round.
“Learning to swim has to go year-round,” Delgado said. “Offering a child the ability to protect themselves is one of the greatest gift you can give to a kid.”
The indoor pool water and air temperatures are always set to warm levels.
The academy’s management team has done a good job since the opening, and the ongoing communication with customers has paid dividends, Delgado said.
Asked for his take on the overall layout of Los Patrones Business Park—an industrial center in the community with a bevy of businesses—Delgado said it’s a well-thought-out concept and “great” mix of tenants.
Delgado noted the center has a jiu-jitsu gym, a pet spa, and a wine and brewery spot, among other tenants.
“We’re so happy to be in the Rancho Mission Viejo community,” Delgado said. “We can’t wait to continue to grow.”
Collin Breaux
Collin Breaux covers San Juan Capistrano and other South Orange County news as the City Editor for The Capistrano Dispatch. Before moving to California, he covered Hurricane Michael, politics and education in Panama City, Florida. He can be reached by email at cbreaux@picketfencemedia.com.
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