Hidden Gems: Meet Krysten Call of Nashville Swim Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krysten Call

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
​​I come from a large family of swimmers, and have been in and around the water my entire life. I enjoyed the water so much that I swam competitively since I was 8 years old then became a junior lifeguard and eventually one of the youngest beach lifeguards in the St. Johns County Ocean Rescue department. I continued to swim competitively through college, and worked at a beach and tennis club where I eventually built up to running the lifeguards, swim lessons, and swim team there.

My first experience teaching swimming was when I was 17 years old. I was given no training at all but loved the experience of learning how to understand what each swimmer needed so they could learn the skills of swimming in a positive way. My own sink or swim experience of fumbling through learning how to teach swimming helped me to to understand how important it is to create a positive experience. I had an unbelievably positive response from clients because I was enthusiastic about teaching swimming and creating that positive experience with each swimmer.

After concluding my college swimming experience in Florida, I wasn’t ready to leave swimming behind and sit behind a desk. I was eager to continue to grow and learn as much as I could about coaching swimming as I could. I took the Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator position with the Vanderbilt Women’s swimming program. While coaching at the collegiate level, I also coached three different groups with Nashville Aquatic Club and taught swim lessons with all ages. Those years of constant coaching and teaching sharpened my skills immensely.

During my four years of coaching in Nashville, my personal life also took off. I got married, entered the Sports Administration graduate program at Belmont, and had a baby. I was eager to settle in with my family more and travel less. In 2013, I graduated with my Masters in Sports Administration, had my second child three weeks later then started the Ensworth Swim School when my baby girl was only 8 weeks old.

Ensworth Swim School would eventually grow from a humble start of fewer than 50 kids in 2013 to become Nashville Swim Academy – the place to take your child for Swim Lessons in Nashville, with more than 1200 swimmers in 2023. I am the proud owner and Director of Nashville Swim Academy. Nashville Swim Academy expanded into five pools by summer 2024 and is building our flagship location in the Nations. We are so excited about our growth and plans to bring our high quality swimming experience to more people in the Greater Nashville area.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have certainly had some challenges along the way, including Covid closures and keeping water so we could provide swim lessons. That is why we are so excited to be opening our own facility so we do not have to worry about where we will be able to provide this much needed and amazing skill of swimming.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We known for being the premier learn-to-swim in the greater Nashville area. We don’t just have highly trained aquatic professionals working with our swimmers, we also meet kids right where they are in the swimming process and build on their skills from there.

Readers of the Nashville Scene voted us the Best place to get Swim Lessons in 2023 and we won the Tennessean Top workplace award in 2023 and 2024.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like about Nashville is the people. We have wonderful people from all walks of life and it makes living here a positive experience. What I do not like about our city is the traffic. Nashville is so great that it is getting a bit crowded.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/nashvilleswimacademy
• Instagram: @nashvilleswimacademy