Splashing around
Morgan Lee
Times Contributor
The Strahmore Aquatic Centre has been busy this summer and the action continues into August. This month they’re running several different swimming courses.
“We’ve been running courses, all the courses needed for someone to become a lifeguard,” said Brenda Conden, the acting Manager for the Stathmore Aquatic Centre, “some of them we’ve had good response to and some of them we’ve had to cancel.” Lack of community interest in these programs has led to the cancellations, as there are a minimum number of participants necessary for the course to run. The Aquatic Centre runs both the Water Safety Instructor course and the National Lifeguard Course. These courses arerunning through August and those interested can call the Aquatic Centre at 403-934-3325 for more information and to sign up. There are age and ability requirements for each course.
“[Participants] need to be 16 years old, so it would usually be the high school students,” said Conden. “For the Water Safety Instructor you have to have a Swim Kids level 10 swimming ability and for the National Lifeguard Service you just have to be able to swim.”
Other than these courses, if you’re interested in swimming you can go to the pool weekdays from 1-4 p.m. for public swim and 1-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Aquatic Centre also offers free family swim night on Saturday and Sunday from 3-5 p.m. The pool schedule is updated weekly on the aquatic center webpage which can be accessed through the Town of Strathmore website, www.strathmore.ca.
For those interested in pool sports other than racing, there is a special event in August for you.
“We also have, on Aug. 24, free water polo demonstrations,” said Conden. “You can come in and sign up for it.”
The Alberta Polo Association will be sending coaches to run the event and teach basic Water Polo techniques. “You get to try out some of the skills,” said Conden. That event is taking place between 11 a.m. and 12 a.m. and those interested can sign up at the Aquatic Center front desk.