Greater capacity for swimming lessons this fall

Winnipeg

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2023 (819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With classrooms full of students once again, it won’t be long before another seasonal milestone arrives — pools filling for fall swimming lessons.

The City of Winnipeg opened registration for its full slate of fall Leisure Guide activities on Sept. 12.

“As usual, swimming is the most popular category,” said Jennefer Larsen, administrative co-ordinator for the city’s recreation services department.

At press time, over 10,300 people had registered for swimming lessons, Larsen said, adding that approximately 85 per cent of spots had been taken.

She said the city added approximately 3,000 more swimming lessons spots this year compared to last year, a result in no small part owing to the city providing free lifeguard training for the past two years, which resulted in over 100 lifeguard-instructors receiving training.

“It was a priority of ours this year to try to rebuild recreation services after effects of COVID-19 pandemic,” Larsen said. “We went into programming with a goal of being able to offer pre-pandemic level capacity in all programming. With swimming in particular we always find high demand, in all age categories, so we’ve always been trying to add capacity in swimming programs whenever possible. I think we have exceeded our own expectations.”

Still, Larsen admitted, the city has yet to get back to 2019 capacity levels. In particular, French-language programming is still lagging and could use more instructors in all positions.

“We are absolutely seeking French leaders for employment opportunities,” Larsen said.

Not to be outdone, the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg has added over 900 swimming lesson spots across its four Winnipeg locations this year, increasing the organization’s swimming lesson capacity by 40 per cent over last year.

“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,” said Cordella Friesen, CEO and president of Y Winnipeg, n a recent statement. “We know parents have experienced frustration in the past with how quickly swim classes tend to fill up and with our enhanced swim program capacity, we’re alleviating some of that frustration and making it easier for families in our community to access the programs they need.”

Both the Y and the City of Winnipeg offer the Lifesaving Society of Canada’s levelled swimming program. The Y’s lessons are available to members only, and over 13,000 of them take advantage of the opportunity to improve their swimming skills each year, reducing the demand on the City of Winnipeg programs.

“There are certainly popular timeslots for children’s activities,” Larsen said. “It helps when there is capacity outside our own. When other pools are able to increase their capacity, as well, to bring more of those popular time slots to the public, that does help with easing demand on us as the municipal provider.”