Swim lesson season opens with more room in pools

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This article was published 01/09/2023 (819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back to school, back to the pools.

The City of Winnipeg has opened more than 1,000 additional swim lesson spots, compared to last year’s fall recreational calendar.

Mayor Scott Gillingham announced the inclusion of 336 more aquatic classes to the city’s 2023 fall schedule Friday on X (formerly Twitter).

Credit went to the city’s instructor guard recruitment program.

“Recruitment of lifeguards has been ongoing as we continue our recovery efforts from the (COVID-19) pandemic,” City of Winnipeg communications officer Adam Campbell said in an email to the Free Press. “At this time, a total of 1,894 classes are being offered for fall 2023, accommodating as many as 10,441 participants.”

It opens up an additional 1,193 spots, compared to fall 2022.

In November, the city committed to training new instructor guards, free of charge, through a six-course, 16-week certification program. (Out-of-pocket cost of the program is normally around $1,500.)

The first session trained 58 instructor guards and six aquatic instructors. The second round of the program is underway, and will train approximately 56 participants.

To meet growing demand, the local YMCA-YWCA boosted its swimming lesson capacity by 40 per cent, adding more than 900 spots across its four Winnipeg branches. Every year, the charity provides swimming lessons to members of more than 13,000 Manitoba families.

“Since January, we’ve worked hard at recruiting and training 50 new lifeguards and swim instructors to help make swimming accessible to as many children and adults in our community as we can,” Cordella Friesen, chief executive officer and president of Y Winnipeg, said in a news release Friday.

Andrea Usackis, an aquatic specialist with Y Winnipeg, said it upped recruitment through ads, connecting with career counsellors, showing up to job fairs, and posting on social media.

“We really were listening to those families in our communities to ensure that we could help reduce frustrations for those families to actually make spaces for them to be able to register,” Usackis said.

The affiliate of the Lifesaving Society Manitoba offers several unique aquatic programs across the city for swimmers as young as six months. At some locations, it offers a flexible come-and-go program.

“(It’s) a drop-in program that enables families that are maybe not able to commit to that weekly sort of schedule to have a little bit more flexibility,” Usackis said.

As a registered charity, Usackis said the Y is committed to making sure low-income families can access swimming lessons. Through its member access program, families can benefit from reduced fees for recreation programs.

The City of Winnipeg also offers subsidies to low-income families through activity credits and facility passes.

Registration for City of Winnipeg swimming programs begins Sept. 12 at 8 a.m.

A list of available YMCA-YWCA aquatic programs can be found on its website.

cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca