On June 28th, fourteen participants got to check an item off their bucket list.

In the evening hours, the Jayman Built Aquatic Centre was closed to the general public to allow John Napier, Aquatics Manager and his staff to create a safe environment for the registered attendees.

It was the first time Napier offered an evening workshop like this and he was extremely pleased with the results. "The fourteen that showed up were honestly my heroes. They were brave enough to just attend and then what we saw unfold was just magical."

Starting the evening event in a classroom setting, each participant got time to meet their one on one instructor which was key. Sharing their stories if they were comfortable in doing so was also important as it provided an opportunity for staff to understand how they could best assist them to overcome their fear. "It was very powerful; all different backgrounds and even people from different countries that were able to attend. They talked about growing up near a big body of water right across from them and yet never learning how to swim. We had a couple candidates talk about near drowning experiences when they were children and how they never submerged past their face or chest in water."

With trust built between the instructor and each registrant, all fourteen got in the pool. Napier shares although initially, fear and nervousness could be seen on the swimmers' faces he was elated to see how quickly things turned around. "When everybody first went in you could just they were uneasy but because we had done the trust exercises beforehand with the instructors they built a comfort level with that instructor. By the end of the lesson, every single candidate had managed to fully submerge underwater, blow bubbles and the majority of them were able to float with limited assistance or on their own...in one hour."

While no one was required to take additional lessons, Napier shares most attendees expressed interest in carrying on and learning more skills. "We run our adult programs on Sunday evenings and they are six-week sessions and we take people from this comfort level who have a fear of water and take them to a point of overcoming the fear, relax in the water and be comfortable all the way to floating, gliding, kicking and propulsion."

While there are no plans, yet, to offer another 'For the Love of Water' evening, Napier says feedback from the instructors was to run the program again in the future. "There are going to be talks about how we can offer more of this introduction piece and get people loving the water."

Napier gave a special thank you to his staff for taking the program on and embracing it. "They were handpicked and they were amazing. I don't think they understood what they were a part of and by the end of the evening, a couple of my younger instructors said that is was one of the most rewarding things they have done and a lot of them had relatable stories to fear."

For people who couldn't attend or maybe just weren't ready to make the leap, Napier suggests come into the aquatic centre and talk to his staff. "Come and talk to us, even just show up at the pool; any of our staff are willing and open to having those conversations."

READ MORE:

Is Learning to Swim on Your Bucket List?!