Next week, it will be a race to register for fall activities in Kitchener as the city will open registration on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. Swimming lessons are among the activities that tend to fill up fast. “Generally, the younger lessons fill up within the first five minutes to the first half hour,” Alex Geisel, Aquatics Supervisor, City of Kitchener said. “About 80 per cent of swim lessons fill up by the end of the day,” Geisel continued. Registration opens Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. According to the city, it’s important to know what level your child is at before signing up. Geisel said lessons are running at about 110-120 per cent capacity across the city. “We’re seeing a significant demand as a whole across the city. There’s not enough offerings that we can provide currently without exceeding our capacities,” Geisel said. Geisel claimed when the Cowan Recreation Centre opens up, it should help ease the waitlists around the city. “Cowan alone will be adding an additional 2,100 spots for this fall, and then annually, we were looking at about 48,000 additional swim lessons spots... so, it is a huge addition to what we’re currently able to offer,” Geisel said. “By doing so, we’ll decrease those waitlists, will provide further opportunity to make adjustments to program schedules across the city.” The competition for securing a spot is one of the reasons Puddles Swim School on Victoria Street opened it’s doors last fall. “We did struggle with, as many parents (did), experienced swimming lessons within public facilities, community centres. We tried a few private lessons, but the ratios were quite high. So, my husband and I, we just sat together. I joke around whether it’s a midlife crisis, but we were like, ‘look, we’re here to help the community, we’ll help other children, and let’s open up a swim school that differentiates in many ways,’” Ronjiny Basu, Cofounder of Puddles Swim School said. Their instructors take on only three students at a time, which Basu said allows for more one-on-one skill development. Their above ground saltwater pool is also kept around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, to be a welcoming temperature for swimmers year round. “That really helps in that first step in not only tackling the first swimmers anxiety, but just greeting them with a warm and soft, gentle kind of temperature and water, which is gentle on your skin and hair, especially with those with little ones with long hair,” Basu said. “I have two little ones and as a parent, just understanding the sensitivity and not only the expectations, but the sensitivities of what parents do want for their children and again, equipping them with that safety knowledge, making them feel comfortable and happy with water because it begins there, water is your friend.” Puddles offers lessons for students as young as six months up to adults of all ages. They’re currently open six days a week, closed on Mondays, but as of September 14, they will be open seven days a week. Need for swimming lessons It’s a skill the Lifesaving Society feels is one of the most important you can learn in your life. According to the society, 500 drownings happen in Canada annually. “So, this is 500 Canadian lives that are lost and these drowning deaths are preventable. When we look at the drowning problem across Canada and especially in Ontario, for Ontario specifically, we see that non-fatal drownings are four times more common than fatal drownings. Non-fatal drownings can range from mild breathing impairments to severe lifelong disabilities and it is very important that we take the time to learn to swim to prevent these tragedies, whether it’s fatal or non-fatal,” Bakalar said. “Learning to swim really opens up a lot of opportunity for you, and it makes you so much safer whether you’re boating or you’re swimming. The other thing to consider with learning to swim is that a lot of drownings actually happen when people didn’t even intend to be in the water. So, there are times when people fall into the water unexpectedly and that leads to drowning. So, learning to swim is a great skill and is something anyone, regardless of age, should do,” Bakalar said. Bakalar added that while some lessons can be expensive, there are plenty of options to look for. “We want people to dig around and look for those swimming lessons. A lot of people say that financial barriers and time barriers prevent them from participating in swimming lessons. We do know that most municipalities and local YMCA’S and even some private pools do offer subsidized swimming lessons. So, we encourage you to go to your local pool and ask how they can help you and what is available to you,” Bakalar said.
