Aquatic centre experiencing relatively few hiccups in first month

Everything is going as smoothly as can be expected — according to aquatics supervisor Linda Swanson.

On July 8, the Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre officially opened its doors to the public and the Leader talked to Swanson to see how the first month of operation has been going so far.

“I think, all things considered, everything is going as well as we could have hoped for,” she said. “When opening a new facility there are going to be challenges, especially one as complicated as a swimming pool, but overall it couldn’t be going any better.”

Swanson said there have been relatively few surprises in terms of the building and equipment itself.

Before the facility opened, Swanson was concerned it might take staff a while to find the delicate chemical balance needed for proper water treatment.

For example, before the facility opened staff noticed a discolouring of the water in the hot tub. This issue was due to a combination of a malfunctioning water valve and a higher than normal magnesium content in the water, a problem also experienced at the old aquatics centre.

“Once we got the original cause fixed it hasn’t been a problem,” she said. “The filters for the other pools are defenders and while they are a great system and will save us money in the long term, they are not something I am familiar with. Needless to say there has been a big learning curve for all of us.”

Luckily for Swanson, while she has to have a basic understanding of all the pool’s systems, the job of maintenance falls to the facilities head maintenance person, Mike Bryant, who has been kept busy working with many of the facility’s contractors.

“For the most part, a lot of things are things that people don’t necessarily see, but we are getting them all done,” he said, popping his head in to introduce himself.

One of those items being uneven floor tiling.

“It’s not a big thing, but we had a few complaints about it from patrons and this is the thing Mike has been working with the contractors to solve over the last month,” Swanson said.

The other area Swanson is working is training staff. The aquatic centre currently employs about 25 staff members, the vast majority being lifeguards or other pool deck staff.

The aquatic centre is open seven days a week. On weekdays it is open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and statutory holidays.

“It takes a lot of people on the deck just for a public swim,” she said, noting on Heritage Day when about 300 people visited the pool and often there were in excess of 100 people using the various pools at one time, five lifeguards were needed. “That is why we are not running any programming at the pool right now.”

Swanson is in the process of training about a dozen staff members who are taking their Lifesaving Society Swim for Life course. Once complete it will allow members to give swimming lessons. Later these staff members will take additional courses that will allow them to teach more advanced swimming levels for swimmers looking to get their bronze medallion and cross certification.

In the fall, Swanson hopes to offer additional fitness classes.

“Right now myself and Adrianna are the only ones on staff who have any experience teaching aquatic fitness classes,” she said, adding that on Aug. 8, a number of staff members started their Canadian Aquafitness Leaders Alliance’s (CALA) training which when finished would allow them to teach these types of classes.

Swanson concluded the interview by praising all her staff.

“I can’t say enough about our staff. For a lot of them it is the first time on a pool deck in a new facility. It’s a big responsibility and they are just doing a wonderful job,” she said.