About Water Lilies Swimming School

20 years as a qualified swim instructor was all the impetus award winning Teresa Griffin required to eventually start her own swimming school. Water Lilies Swimming School is celebrating 17 years this year!

How did it start?

Universally nicknamed “Treacle”, Teresa has been a duty manager and instructor for major pools in the area and decided to launch Water Lilies Swimming School in 2007.

The school quickly grew and Teresa started to hire private pools and offer more classes. By 2010, Teresa was joined by four instructors to cope with demand. By 2013, Water Lilies was hosting lessons in seven pools in Norfolk and Suffolk - offering classes six days a week with 19 instructors.

Today in 2024, Water Lilies Swimming School teaches more than 1,500 children, babies and adults per week with a highly qualified team of excellent instructors across 11 private pools. 

Water Lilies Swimming School is part of the STA's Swim Star Swim School programme for independent schools - assuring you of the highest standards in teaching, training and customer service. STAmark accredited. 

Sir Henry Pike Award

During 2013 Teresa developed the swimming school's programmes, offering more STA award courses and increasing the variety of lessons, to include: snorkelling, diving, short intense courses and taster sessions, delivered through the globally recognised STA International Learn to Swim Programme. This has been recoginsed by the STA and in October 2013, Teresa was presented the coveted national Sir Henry Pike Award for "outstanding contribution to watersafety and swimming education over the last 12 months".

Making a splash throughout Norfolk and Suffolk

Water Lilies hires various private pools and offers a very personal teaching service to small groups of children in each session. Adults and children can also be taught on a one-to-one or two-to-one basis in very quiet sessions. The pools are in idyllic settings, all are heated and offer comfortable changing facilities, click here to view all of our pools

All our instructors are highly qualified, DBS checked, fully qualified and insured. Find out more about our swimming lessons here.

We also have a team of Poolside Assistants who support our Instructor Team across the swim school.

Our WLSS Office provides a central point of contact throughout the week. 

Committed to quality 

Water Lilies Swimming School is committed to maintaining the highest standards in safety, teaching and customer service.

We are an STA Swim Star Swim School - unique stamp of approval from STA
We have the STAmark Bronze - STA accreditation
We are an STA Approved Training Centre - delivering highest quality in teacher training.

Our swimming instructors are highly qualfied and complete continuous professional development. Teresa Griffin and other very experienced teachers have recently qualified with the new STA Baby & Pre-school Diploma!

Congratulations to Treacle and all at Water Lilies Swimming School

"Reading about how you have built up a successful swimming school and inspiring many people to take up swimming, helping to keep themselves safe, fit and healthy deserves to be recognised by this prestigious award."

Dr Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk & North Ipswich

In July, Waveney MP Peter Aldous is visiting Water Lilies Swimming School in Bungay to see some of our students and instructors in action:

“I am looking forward to my visit to Water Lillies Swimming School to see at first-hand their successful and enjoyable award winning swimming lessons. Living close to both the sea and the Broads there are great opportunities to have fun whilst exercising, but to do so safely it is so important to learn to swim at an early age.” 

Peter Aldous MP for Waveney

Supporting charity

Water Lilies Swimming School as a whole every year delivers fantastic fundraising efforts for charity. Thank you to everyone who supported our 'Act Your Age' challenges raising over £750 for BBC Children in Need 2020.

We have fond memories of our fabulous black-tie Charity Ball in June 2019, following the succes of our Charity Ball events in 2015 and 2017! The Charity Ball and a huge Charty Raffle in 2019 raised a hugh amount ... £5,775 for the charities Parkinson's UK and CHEERS supporting children and families living with the condition Juveile Arthritis. Two incredibly important charities supporting many local families. Thank you to everyone who took part and supported us! 

"We are supporting these charities because of their local connections to Norfolk and Suffolk, and the incredible work that they do to help others. Together with the support from across our swimming school's, friends, families and local buisinesses we have rasied significant funds for both charities to assist them in continuing the fantastic work they already do" says Treacle Griffin

The children in particular enjoy taking part in the BBC Children in Need appeal and Comic Relief's Red Nose Day and so we offer fun fundraising activities at our pools.