Adaptive swim program hopes to Make Waves in Brandon
- Details
- Published on Saturday, February 21, 2015
By Madelyn Flood
Submitted article
Let me introduce you to an amazing student initiative dedicated to providing affordable and accessible one-on-one swimming instruction to children with disabilities. Making Waves Winnipeg, founded by Cameron Krisko in 2011, has shown phenomenal success. In only four years the program has grown from 10 kids and 10 instructors to 170 kids, over 70 volunteers and two pool locations in Winnipeg!
Our focused goal is now aimed at expanding to Brandon in order to spread water safety knowledge to more children and more parents in the Westman area. A 2002 study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that drowning is still the second-leading cause of injury-related death in children, despite a significant increase in general swimming proficiency in North America. The reality that we live in a rural area makes these lessons even more crucial for vacations, farming families and the upcoming summer season. Personally, from the first day I started teaching lessons I knew that these kids would be giving me more than I could ever give back to them. Seeing their faces every week is pure joy.
Making Waves lessons are geared completely to the child and the individual attention allows us to teach at the childrens’ pace. This could be as big as someone jumping off of the diving board for the first time to as simple as a child entering the water or blowing bubbles. Furthermore, the positive impacts on the children reach beyond the pool; from building friendships and self-esteem, along with practicing every day skills, for example, getting ready.
Beck, a swimmer who has been with the Winnipeg program since day one says his favourite part of coming to swimming is “jumping in the water and making a big splash!” These children love coming to the pool and the instructors love having them. Another swimmer in Winnipeg, Jacob, hopes that he will be brave enough to jump off the diving board one day. Jacob’s mom said, “At the beginning of lessons, he was terrified of the water and now a huge step for him has been his ability to put his face in the water. He now loves the water and swimming lessons and has improved so much from when we first started with the program.”
With a pool lined up in Brandon, and interested children all we need are weekly instructors to run lessons! Please note, as we are a volunteer run program, possession of an NLS is not a requirement although an extremely strong asset. Certified lifeguards are on deck at all times and Making Waves instructors go through a complete training program. If you know anyone in the community who loves teaching kids, is patient, fun, and has a swimming background please ask them to contact Cameron Krisko by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 204-612-4440.
Let’s make this happen Manitoba! Please visit www.makingwaveswinnipeg.org for more information.
