Following a tragic summer of drownings across the state, North Shore Living investigates how the closure of Willoughby Leisure Centre and North Sydney Pool has put pressure on local swimming lesson waitlists – and what the swim schools are doing to cater for unprecedented demand.
If you live on the lower North Shore, getting your child into a swimming lesson these days can be like winning the lottery. Waitlists at local pools have never been as high as they are currently, with families in the Willoughby and North Sydney council areas forced to look elsewhere as their local council pools undergo renovation.
This is all against a background of children having missed around 18 months of swimming lessons during COVID-19 lockdown while pools were closed.
This summer, there were a record number of drownings across NSW. Royal Life Saving Australia (RLSA) has just released its Summer Drowning Report 2022/2023, which shows that while numbers have decreased nationally, drowning is still the leading cause of preventable death in the zero to four age group. In NSW, eight per cent of the 36 reported deaths were from the 0 – 17 age group.
The report makes clear that the lack of swimming lessons has been a factor in the drowning rate:
“Swimming pool closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns are continuing to impact on children’s and adults’ swimming skills and fitness,” the report states.
Lane Cove Aquatic Centre is one of the biggest swimming facilities on the lower North Shore. It has an astonishing 1,500 children on its waitlist for swimming lessons.
Run by Bluefit Swimming, centre manager Scott Luff says while Lane Cove’s waitlist has always been high, the current level is a result of the closure of Willoughby Leisure Centre last November.
Mr Luff says the biggest issue for the centre – and the industry nation-wide – is a lack of swimming teachers. Like many swim schools, Bluefit lost a lot of its casual teaching staff during COVID and has been struggling to recruit enough instructors ever since.
He acknowledges the frustration of parents who just want their children to learn to swim.
Carlile Swimming operates three local North Shore pools where wait lists are ‘extraordinary’.
“It’s a valid frustration. Our goal is to get every child swimming. It’s such an important skill to have (and) we don’t want to be sending people away.”
Lane Cove has increased times for swimming lessons by 30 minutes during weekdays, which has added an extra few hundred lessons over the course of the week.
Carlile Swimming, which runs several swim schools on the lower North Shore, has also extended lesson times to cater for demand at its pools.
Chief executive officer Jon Harker says the demand and growth in the industry is ‘huge’.
“In the years we have been operational, no one can recall a time when waitlists have been as large as they (are).”
And it is in the entry-level learn to swim classes – when children are in a lane for the first time with a teacher – that the waitlists are ‘extraordinary’ he says, as well as on weekends, a popular time slot for busy parents.
Mr Harker says being able to recruit more teachers in the last few months has enabled them to open new classes, but their facilities at Lane Cove West, Castle Cove and Killarney Heights still have a waitlist of around 550.
Lane Cove Aquatic Centre, operated by Bluefit Swimming, currently has a waitlist of 1,500 local children.
Like many swim schools, their operating hours are also restricted by council regulations if they are in residential areas.
Carlile offers subsidised training for anyone wanting to become a swimming teacher.
“It’s a terrific job,” he says. “You’re helping kids have fun and achieve – and at the end of the day, you’re saving lives.”
Mr Harker says that AUSTSWIM, who regulate the swim teacher industry, recently lowered the age at which you can become a qualified instructor from 17 to 16, which has helped.
Bluefit goes one step further and pays people to undertake their training. “It’s an added incentive to get them in the pool and training and qualified,” Mr Luff says.
“In the years we have been operational, no one can recall a time when waitlists have been as large as they (are)” Carlile Swimming CEO Jon Harker.
Corey Plant manages the Mosman Swim Centre for Bluefit and says its waitlist is around 500, which includes internal figures for people who wish to change lesson times or levels.
Mr Plant says the pool capacity is around 2,200 students, but currently they have 1,750 enrolled.
All pools need to share their facilities with other users, including aqua aerobic classes, squads and Rainbow Club – for children with a disability.
“We’ve just got this massive juggle between all of them,” Mr Plant says. While increasing times is one solution, lessons can’t run too late into the evening because of the age of the children.
Mosman is looking to increase its weekend hours but is waiting for more staff. Bluefit has re-started its popular Swim Teacher Working Holiday program, which flies over young people from the United Kingdom to train as teachers.
In its Summer Drowning Report, the RLSA says that up to 40 per cent of children are leaving primary school unable to swim 50 metres or tread water for two minutes, the national benchmark.
Jon Harker says this is a ‘dangerous’ situation.
“If you consider 50 metres in a controlled environment like an Olympic pool, and that’s all you can swim, or you can just make it, there’s no way in the world you are capable of not panicking and rescuing yourself if you’re caught in a rip at the beach.”
While swim schools are doing all they can to accommodate demand, the reality is that until the Willoughby Leisure Centre and North Sydney pools re-open – forecast to be around mid-2024 – demand for lessons will only increase.
To become a swimming instructor, contact your local pool.