Mertail Fitness, LLC

1. Instructor is highly qualified. 2. Excellent teaching skills. 3. Easily understandable. 4. Inspires students to feel confident, 5. Safe and patient.

Great lesson for my daughter! She was nervous of putting her face underwater, with Ellen's encouragement and games she forgot her fears and went under multiple times. She was so happy and excited and can't wait to get back in the water. A huge success in only 1 lesson!

Mermaid Ekena has left such deep impression on my water-suspicious child that she informed me yesterday that she'd like very much to be a swim instructor when she's older. Ellen is a fabulous, confidence-inspiring teacher and she makes every lesson fun. We couldn't have asked for a better instructor to come into our lives when she did.

My grandchildren visit me in Santa Fe in the summer. For the past two years, I have arranged for a couple of swim lessons with Mermaid Ellen while they are here. As residents of New York City, these children, ages 7 1/2 and 8 years old, have only occasional access to pools and until their swim lessons were afraid even to put their heads under water. They are visiting again this August 2015 and the first thing they asked for were swim lessons with Ellen. They both love the lessons and have become increasingly more comfortable and confident in the water.

Ellen is great!

Considering that my last swimming class was about 60 years ago, I wanted to learn to swim again before a trip to Puerto Rico. I am so glad I found Ellen. She is a fabulous teacher, patient & enthusiastic. She encouraged me to take water aerobics for core strength, gave me special snorkeling lessons, & taught me feel relaxed & confident in the water. I got to swim at some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, in water the color of the sky. Thanks, Ellen!

Ellen is a fantastic teacher! At 47 I'm just learning how to swim and it was important that I had an an instructor that understood and honored the challenges in learning to swim as a mature adult. Namely...FEAR! Ellen is patient and explains things very well. She pushes the learning curve, but only at the speed in which you feel comfortable. I was very happy that with only 4 lessons I was swimming! In the deep end! I would highly recommend Ellen.

Ellen is one of the most inspiring and encouraging individuals I have met in a long time. Her ability to translate that type to energy to her swim clients is remarkable. She motivates without pressure and her technique to coaching translates well to beginning swimmers.

Ellen is exactly the kind of swimming coach I needed. She is patient, observant and very knowledgeable. Under her tuteledge, I have progressed from an intense fear and inability to swim to now doing laps, in just a sessions. Her use of an underwater camera for stills and video is so useful. I trust her and look forward to learning much more! I am actually inspired to practice on my own time, something I have never felt with previous instructors. She has been very dependable with our appointments, as well.

Ellen is a great instructor who puts in extra time and effort outside the lesson to ensure you get the most out your time in the pool. I'm on my way to the south pacific to spend a lot of time in the ocean and I feel so much better having had swimming lessons with Ellen. The swimming style she teaches is very good (total immersion) and the water treading I think will be a very useful skill in sea.

It has been a wonderful experience. I am swimming, and love it!

Met Ellen for a first lesson. She was helpful, encouraging and made it fun. I look forward to the next lesson!

My wife and I were very pleased with Ellen. She was very specific about excercises and how to improve our swimming capabilities.

I enjoyed my time with Ellen, she was creative and very encouraging. I had taken swim lessons previously but wanted a coach to help refine my technique and help me feel confident as a lap swimmer. After2 hours of coaching she said I was ready to graduate! I am glad I found Ellen, she was just what I needed!

Ellen's understanding of stroke dynamics helped me change the way I move in the water. Her high energy--low stress style is also great with kids.

Ellen is an excellent coach and wonderful person. She made me feel at ease and more confident in the water (no easy task) and I'm looking forward to our next session. I highly recommend her services.

We really liked Ellen. She was on time, patient and easy to get along with. My daughter worked with her for about a half hour and walked away with new skills she started practicing right away after her lesson. I also like that Ellen has been able to work with us on weekends so far. I will definitely continue to have my daughter take lessons and will consider lessons for my 2 year old son if Ellen is willing. I'm so glad I found her, thank you thumbtack!

Ellen is a superb coach. Swimming laps used to be a chore for me, something to do simply for exercise. After getting coaching from Ellen, swimming has turned into a joy, something that actually feels good. Over the next few days, two people on different occasions commented that my swimming looked "graceful" and "beautiful."