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January 26, 2026
HOWARD – The Appleton-based Wisconsin Swim Academy is set to open a second location this year at 2920 Riverview Drive in the Village of Howard.
General Manager Jack Van Ekeren said construction is expected to begin soon, with the new facility slated to open in early fall.
Van Ekeren said when his mother, Susie Van Ekeren – who owns the academy – first opened the Appleton facility in 2020, she did not initially realize the strong demand for high-quality, small-class swim lessons.
“There were more than 700 students who enrolled right away, and now we’re up to 1,400 a week,” he said. “So, we’ve kind of reached a capacity here in Appleton.”
Van Ekeren said they chose the Green Bay area for the second location to address a growing need in the community.
“Cities like Milwaukee or Madison have these other swim schools that offer smaller classes for their swim lessons, but Green Bay really lacks a business like that – [one] that offers small class sizes, high-quality instruction and a focus on water safety,” he said.
Van Ekeren said several families who now make the drive from Green Bay to Appleton for lessons at the academy are eager for the new Howard location’s opening.
Bayland Buildings, Inc., he said, has been hired to construct the nearly 8,000-square-foot facility, which will include a pool, locker rooms, a viewing area, offices and space for gymnastics.
Some of the things families can expect at the new facility, Van Ekeren said, include:
- A warm-water pool designed to help swimmers feel safe and confident
- A proven curriculum taught by caring, encouraging instructors
- Comfortable viewing areas for families
- Flexible scheduling to fit busy family life
New programming
Though, up until now, the Swim Academy has solely focused on swim lessons, Van Ekeren said the Howard location will introduce a new offering: Sweet Peas Educational Gymnastics – an educational gymnastics program.
“It’s a really cool kind of synergy with our current swim business that focuses on a lot of the same things with the development of the child and education of the kiddos with gymnastics,” he said. “It’s kind of like a toddler-tumbling partnership.”
Van Ekeren said the gymnastics classes will be offered to children from six months to about six years old.
For now, he said the program will initially be offered only at the Howard location, with hopes to expand it to Appleton in the future.
Summer programming, Van Ekeren said, will also differentiate the two locations.
Currently, he said, summer camps will only be offered in Appleton, but there is a possibility they could expand to Howard once staff get a better sense of the new space.
Building skills
Van Ekeren said students can expect the same swim lessons at Howard as they do in Appleton.
According to Wisconsin Swim Academy’s website (wiswimacademy.com), the academy offers 30-minute classes with no more than three students per session.
Van Ekeren said swim lessons are available for all ages, from six months old through adulthood.
Per the website, students are grouped by swimming ability – beginner, intermediate and advanced – with each level concentrating on a small number of targeted swimming objectives:
Beginner
- Breath control
- Kicking
- Multi-tasking
- Safety in and around the pool
Intermediate
- Swimming three to five feet
- Rolling over and floating
- Safety skills
- Treading water
- Learning rhythmic breathing
- Building core muscles
Advanced
- Defining the stroke
- Building endurance
- Reinforcing safety
- Treading with a weight
As students progress through the program, per the website, they are given a variety of different aquatic level distinctions – ranging from Jellyfish 1 to Marlin.
Van Ekeren said each swimmer needs to confidently achieve each skill in a level before moving on to the next.
Excitement is building
As of mid-January, registration for Howard classes had not yet opened, but Van Ekeren said interested families are welcome to call for more information.
“We have had quite a few people already call in and get their names on a list,” he said.
Though pricing isn’t listed on the website, Van Ekeren said fees will be the same as at the Appleton location.
“We encourage families to call and get to know us,” he said. “We want to have personal relationships with our families. Call and talk to us. Ask the questions [you] need to ask and get information around the value of a swim lesson.”
Making waves
The Wisconsin Swim Academy began in 2008, when – per the website – Susie started teaching swim lessons in her backyard
Concerned about safety as a mother of four boys, she and her husband made it a priority in every lesson.
Today, the academy employs more than 60 instructors and is a certified member of the United States Swim School Association – and Susie said they are excited for the academy’s next chapter in Howard.
“We’re really excited to serve the Green Bay area,” she said. “This is a family-grown business, family-run business, and we really believe in building relationships and bringing value and service to our community.”
