Pilot project goes swimmingly for Louis Riel students

A school trustee is celebrating the “astonishingly good” value-for-money of Winnipeg’s newest swimming program, but division leaders have stopped short of endorsing an expansion.

The Louis Riel School Division taught 520 students — a fifth of whom had never visited a public pool before — basic water safety skills this fall.

Trustees budgeted $100,000 for the rollout of “Swimming Counts” for the 2025-26 school year. The program, carried out in partnership with the City of Winnipeg and Lifesaving Society Manitoba, ended up costing about a third of that sum.

“For $61 a student, it’s a great deal,” said Ryan Palmquist, a trustee and father of three who was the driving force behind the initiative.

“What we’re getting is kids who have skills in the water, who have been taught this basic life skill and have, hopefully, begun a lifelong journey of enjoying the water and enjoying the outdoors safely.”

Palmquist pitched the idea after experiencing firsthand how challenging it is to secure extracurricular swimming lessons, despite having the resources to register.

The division selected six elementary schools — Lavallee, Provencher, Victor Mager, Victor Wyatt, St. George and Glenwood — based on socioeconomic factors.

Grade 3 and 4 participants learned about water safety, including the purpose of lifejackets and basic pool etiquette, at their schools in October.

Dryland classes were followed up with three trips to a city pool. Students were bused to Cindy Klassen, Pan Am and Elmwood Kildonan pools, owing to a temporary closure at Bonivital Pool.

During those outings, which ranged from 45 minutes to an hour, students did endurance tests, practised how to tread water and learned new strokes and kicking techniques.

It was modelled after the Winnipeg School Division’s learn-to-swim program, which began in 2017, for Grade 4 students.

Senior administration shared a report with trustees outlining program successes and challenges at a board meeting this week.

Teachers, lifeguards and students’ feedback revealed “notable improvements in comfort and confidence to participate safely in and around water,” the report said.

“Students demonstrated increased willingness to try new skills, greater awareness of safety practices, and a stronger sense of self-assurance during pool sessions.”

The five-page report also flagged a shortage of male staff available to supervise boys change rooms and educational assistants’ discomfort in the water as challenges that required extensive pre-planning.

Ultimately, it concluded that logistical and operational barriers, ranging from limited pool space to internal coverage for teachers, pose significant barriers to expansion.

Superintendent Christian Michalik told trustees his team will create a plan to continue the program if they decide it’s a priority in their upcoming budget.

More than 120 students experienced a swimming pool for the first time through the school-run pilot, according to the report.

Palmquist said that number alone illustrates why continuing the program, even if it can only serve these six schools next year, is worthwhile.

Student feedback, including the comment, “I was scared but now I’m not anymore,” are further evidence of its effectiveness, the trustee said.

“The value for money is astonishingly good. It’s so rare to get an under-budget, high-outcome program like this,” he added.

For Ashley Ouelette’s Grade 3 student, the program provided “an opportunity to refresh” and practise his existing water skills.

“This program holds huge value moreso for new families to Canada who don’t have that water safety exposure,” the mother said.

Lifesaving Society Manitoba has endorsed the initiative and others like it.

“Our take is that the earlier you can get comfortable with all of the safety protocols with being near or in the water, the better,” executive director Lynne Stefanchuk said.

Each student participant earned one of the society’s swim to survive certificates.

The impact of the program goes beyond the 520 participants, she said, noting each child’s involvement is sparking discussions at home.

Pembina Trails School Division leaders are in early discussions about what a learn-to-swim program could look like there.

Roughly 650 students in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division participated in its annual, six-week Grade 3 swim program last year.

Seven Oaks School Division’s 10-week program reaches about 2,000 Grade 4 and 5 students every year.

River East Transcona School Division does not have any universal programming in place, but there are about 80 students at Hampstead School who are currently taking part in weekly swimming lessons.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca