Swimming classes ineffective

My older son attended numerous swimming classes, which still could not
teach him to swim. My observation was that they taught him everything
except swimming, such as splashing water, jumping in water, etc.

This is understandable from a commercial point of view, as it is much
more profitable to conduct 20 lessons, fill out hopeful report cards,
give stickers, etc as opposed to teaching someone to swim in 3 lessons
or so.

But I am a little tired of this BS and would like to inquire as to how
I can find an effective program that can teach a 8 year old to swim,
as in being able to get from point A, to point B, over deep water, without
sinking.

I recall my own past experience as a few frustrating "lessons" from
Dad, which led to nothing, followed by accidentally encountering deep
water on a lake beach, which led to "mastering swimming in 3
seconds".

i