Craig McBride, Founder of Natural Swim Pond
Craig McBride has spent 31+ years designing chemical-free swimming ponds across Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas. He personally walks every site and leads the design of every project the company builds.
Recognition
#1 Aquascape Largest Installer in Texas (2019-2021). Best Aquascape Builder in Texas (2022).
Certification
Certified Aquascape Contractor, 20+ years.
Industry leadership
Co-Founder, Pond Professionals Alliance (pondprofessionalsalliance.org), a global nonprofit trade organization that advances the pond industry through training, certification, networking and best practices. Craig co-founded it alongside Ana Arntson of Stonebridge Pond & Waterfall Co.
Training
Craig trained at Aquascape University, Atlantic University and Firestone Liner School, and his natural swimming pond work has been featured on Greg Wittstock's "The Pond Guy" YouTube channel.
Published work
Published author in Pond Trade Magazine.
Notable project
Designer and builder of Texas' largest recreational swim pond.
Experience
50+ completed natural swimming ponds and recreational ponds, from compact suburban swim ponds to estate-scale builds with grottos and waterfalls. Craig writes the technical guides published in our resource library.
Overview
Craig McBride founded Natural Swim Pond. Over 31+ years he has designed and built more than 50 natural swimming ponds, recreational ponds and water features across Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas all of them chemical-free, all of them filtered by plants and beneficial bacteria rather than chlorine. Photo of Craig McBride: awaiting a supplied photograph
31 Years Building Chemical-Free Swimming Water
Craig started Natural Swim Pond and has spent his whole career on one thing: water you can swim in that stays clear without chemicals. That is a narrower focus than most landscape or pool contractors take, and it is deliberate. A swim pond is an ecosystem, and building one well depends on understanding how plants, bacteria, circulation and stone work together over decades rather than over a single install season. More than 50 completed projects later, his work spans intimate backyard swim ponds and large recreational ponds across Texas , Oklahoma , Colorado , New Mexico and Kansas . Every site is different. Blackland clay in Dallas, caliche in San Antonio, freeze-thaw at altitude in Denver. So every pond is designed for the ground it sits in rather than pulled from a template. Craig personally walks every site before design begins, and he stays involved through excavation, liner detailing, planting and the first season of water, the period that decides whether a pond runs clear for thirty years. Read more about how the biological filtration behind that clarity works.
Awards, Certification & Recognition
Craig's record in the pond industry, grouped by type.
Co-Founder, Pond Professionals Alliance
The Pond Professionals Alliance is a global nonprofit trade organization that advances the pond industry through training, certification, networking and shared best practices. Craig McBride is one of its founding members, having co-founded the organization alongside Ana Arntson of Stonebridge Pond & Waterfall Co.
Featured on "The Pond Guy"
Craig's natural swimming pond work has been featured on Greg Wittstock's "The Pond Guy" YouTube channel. One of the most widely watched channels in the pond industry, and a place where builds get shown to an audience of other professionals as much as to homeowners.
How Craig Starts a Project
Every pond begins with Craig on the property, not with a catalogue.
Onsite Property Evaluation
Craig assesses terrain, soil, sun exposure and drainage to determine where the pond should sit and how big it should be.
Custom Renderings
You see the finished pond. Shape, stone, planting and water features before a single machine arrives.
Hands-On Build
Excavation, liner detailing, filtration, stonework and planting, then commissioning the water and training you to run it.