• Imagine Swimming

  40 Harrison St., nr. Greenwich Ave.; 212-253-9650

  Almost as soon as they’re out of the womb, kids can start blowing bubbles at Imagine Swimming. The hugely popular center, founded and run by two former world-class swimmers (and first-time dads), Lars Merseburg and Casey Barrett, recently expanded its Baby Swim program for those as young as 6 months. At the flagship pool in Tribeca, parents who choose not to take the plunge can enjoy a bird’s-eye view from behind a glassed-in area outfitted with music magazines, and a playspace for sibs. Meanwhile, students get a 50-foot-long pool heated year-round to 90 degrees all to themselves. Weekly classes (from $40) average four kids to each swim coach, with lessons breaking from the normal kickboard and dead-man’s-float routines to include underwater Frisbee tossing, flotation mats, and hoop-jumping.

From the 2011 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine