Staff

Bebe Hall (Owner)

Bebe moved back to California in 2011 and founded Hall Swim Academy in 2014. She also resumed her career as a middle school teacher and continued teaching until 2016 when she turned all her attention to Hall Swim Academy. She has 11 years experience teaching in the classroom and 30 years experience teaching in the pool. Bebe enjoys working with swimmers of all ages, from 2 months old to 82 years old. Her kind and patient approach makes any swimmer feel comfortable in the water.

Lauren (Administrative Assistant)

Lauren grew up in the San Fernando Valley and was a competitive swimmer throughout high school. She received her Bachelors degree from UC Santa Barbara, where she worked as both a lifeguard and a surf camp counselor. Lauren also has experience volunteering as a swim instructor for first-generation American children to promote water safety. After college, she worked as a surf therapist for adolescents in local treatment centers. She joined the Hall Swim Academy team in July of 2021 and serves as the head of our accounting department. Lauren is very excited to work with us; she enjoys sharing her passion for the water and believes swimming can serve as both a therapeutic and fitness modality.

Meet Our Instructors

Nora

Nora grew up in Edina, Minnesota and began swimming completely at the age of 5. Throughout her youth, Nora swam for both club swim teams and for her high school, Edina High School. She won the Minnesota State Championships all 4 years of her time on the team, including her senior year where she was a team captain. Nora began teaching swim lessons at the age of 16 in her hometown of Edina and has worked with swimmers of all ages. Nora loves teaching lessons because it brings her so much joy to see swimmers become confident in the water and improve their skills. Her goal is to make swimmers of all ages enjoy their time in the pool while learning lifesaving skills and refining their technique. When she is not swimming, Nora loves to bake, go to the beach, travel, and spend time with family and friends. Nora currently attends UCLA where she is studying Business Economics.

Kate L.

Kate, a Pennsylvania native, has been swimming competitively since the age of 5. She swam for club and high school teams before beginning her collegiate career at UCLA. In high school, Kate earned two state championships along with a national championship. She was also a team captain during her junior and senior year. Kate is currently a student-athlete at UCLA where she is studying Public Affairs. Outside of the pool, Kate is also a certified beach lifeguard and has participated in teaching junior lifeguards for two years. She is passionate about passing on her love and knowledge of the water to the next generation of swimmers.

Markelle

Markelle has worked as a swim instructor for 6 years, as a nanny for 3 years, and as a preschool teacher for 1 year. She has worked with children with disabilities, including Autism and Down Syndrome. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Sonoma State University in May of 2020. She has completed some coursework in Child Development and also played water polo in high school. She looks forward to working with swimmers of all ages in the pool!

Kate S.

Kate grew up swimming in Indiana, and she has more than 5 years experience teaching swim lessons and coaching swimmers in the pool. She competed in the 2020 Olympic Games for Team Canada in Open Water swimming. She has lived in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Colorado, Vancouver, South Carolina before recently settling in Los Angeles. Kate is currently working for the LA ’28 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee. She loves teaching swim lessons to kids and adults so she can share her passion for the water and promote water safety.

Deontay

Deontay is from San Fransisco, and he moved to West Hollywood in 2021. He has experience working with kids during summer sports camps where the kids were able to practice various sports, including swimming. He joined the Hall Swim Academy team in 2022. His positive energy and warm personality allows his swimmers to not only be productive during their lessons, but feel comfortable, which is so important when learning how to swim.

Tim

Tim recently moved from Phoenix, AZ to LA. He graduated from Mesa Community College with a degree in Audio Production Technologies and Sound Design in 2020. He has been a swimmer all of his life, and he started competitively swimming at the age of 5. While in Arizona, Tim started teaching swim lessons to children at Hubbard Family Swim School in 2011. At HFSS, he taught children essential swimming skills from the ages of 2 months to 13 years old. Tim has 10 years of experience teaching kids not only how to be safe in the water, but also how to love the water. He is excited to get to know you!

Burcin

Burcin’s passion for water sports dates back to her childhood. During her school years, she participated in many national and international competitions as a professional swimmer for seven years. She turned this experience into a teaching field by working as a swimming coaching assistant in swimming schools and colleges. She received a 1-level coaching certificate from the Turkish Swimming Federation to train professional swimmers. To understand human anatomy more closely and improve her experience as a trainer in the field of sports, she obtained Pilates instructor certificates. With this formation, she gave fitness group classes in the water for two years in Turkey with her instructor certificate named FloatFit.

Her passion for water sports continues. She participated in competitions as a professional rower in Turkey, and as a hobby, she is a beginner sailor and kitesurfer.

Michelle

Michelle is a Los Angeles native and a natural fish to water. She has 10+ years of competitive swimming experience and 16 years of swim instructor experience. She is passionate about supporting the growth of her clients and believes that there is no greater joy than sharing her love for swimming. She has experience in working with those of all ages and loves to find creative ways to meet people where they are at in their swim level journey. She loves teaching young children how to blow their first bubbles, adults how to become comfortable and capable swimmers, and working with competitive swimmers to improve their stroke technique. Her positivity and patience are fundamentals of her teaching.

Selma

Selma grew up in Columbia, Missouri and was a USA competitive swimmer throughout high school. She received a Bachelors degree from The University of Missouri where she worked as both a lifeguard and swim lesson instructor. She has a degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in media. So when she moved to LA, she knew she wanted to work in entertainment. She loves kids, so in her free time she teaches swim lessons, substitute teaches, and works as a nanny. She comes from a family of Olympic swimmers. She truly love working with kids and teaching the importance water safety.

Emma

Emma is a Sophomore on the UCLA Swim team. She studying International Development and Entrepreneurship. Emma grew up in the Portland, Oregon area and started swimming when she was 2 years old.  She has been teaching lessons since she was 15 years old, and she absolutely loves working with swimmers of all ages and skill levels. She loves seeing the excitement and joy swimming brings to kids and adults because it reminds her of why she continues to practice the sport. She looks forward to working with you in the pool!

Maddie

Maddie grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and learned to swim at 3 years old. She began to swim competitively at 5 years old and has been swimming competitively (and for fun) ever since. She began teaching swim lessons when she was 16 years old and is grateful to have the chance to share her love of swimming with people of all ages. Some of her interests include surfing, hiking, and ukulele playing. Maddie is currently a student athlete at UCLA where she swims and studies Marketing Communications.

Drew

Drew grew up in Bath, Maine, and he swam for his high school team, college team, and Long Reach Swim Club. He was a lifeguard and taught swim lessons at the local YMCA. He attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs, where he also taught swim lessons at the YMCA. Since college, he has taught at a couple other YMCAs, a swim school called Little Kickers in Denver, and private lessons here and there. He is excited to start teaching swim lessons with Hall Swim Academy and help swimmers get comfortable swimming in the water!

Sophia

Sophia grew up in Orinda, California and started swimming competitively when she was 6 years old on her local swim team at Orinda Country Club. She started club swimming at the age of 13 and also swam for her high school,  Miramonte, where she earned a California state title and high school state record in the 100 yard backstroke. She began teaching at her local swim team at the age of 12 and continued to coach kids of ages 3-15 every summer until 2020. She loves teaching people of all ages to swim and enjoy being in the water as much as she does! Sophia is currently a junior on the UCLA women’s swim team and psychobiology major. In her free time she enjoys surfing, painting, music, and spending time with her family.

Liz

Elizabeth is from Modesto, CA and moved to Northridge two years ago. She started playing water polo at the age of 13, competing on club teams, her high school team, and at Modesto junior college.  Elizabeth has been a lifeguard and has experience teaching swim lessons for the past 5 years. She has taught all ages from babies to adults. She is very excited to share her love for the water and all water sports with everyone in a safe and comfortable environment.