SaskatchewanParents across Regina are facing significant difficulties enrolling their children in city-run swimming lessons. Registration opened early Tuesday morning. As of Wednesday afternoon, the City of Regina said there were just under 900 people on the waitlist. Demand greatly outpaces number of lessons that can be offered: cityListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Lawson Aquatic Centre is one of only three indoor pools in Regina. Demand for swimming lessons is so high, parents have to try to get their children into their preferred classes the moment registration opens. (Peter Mills/CBC)Parents across Regina are facing significant difficulties enrolling their children in city-run swimming lessons.Registration opened early Tuesday morning. As of Wednesday afternoon, the City of Regina said there were just under 900 people on the waitlist for classes they prefer or need.In comparison, the City of Saskatoon said that approximately 420 people are on its waitlist. That number, however, is for both aquatic and recreation programming.Deanne Selinger of Regina has a four-year-old son and said she has to be on her toes to get him into a class that works for her family’s schedule. On registration days, parents log-in to the city’s website to submit their swimming lesson requests. Selinger said this is no easy feat. Parents must be ready to submit immediately at 7:00 a.m. She said if parents are “fortunate” and have chosen exactly which classes they want ahead of time, they can add the classes to their online shopping cart easily and click the purchase button.Those who are lagging behind, or hoping for a popular class, time or pool, may miss out. “You really need to be on the ball and you’ve got to pick which class [is your] first priority to get that one first. So you’ve got to choose which kid needs more swimming lessons than the other, which happens a lot in families with multiple children,” Selinger said.“You may not get the classes that are overlapping for those two children, which can be a huge problem as well.”Pool capacity maxed outThe City of Regina told CBC it’s aware demand for swimming lessons greatly outpaces the number of lessons it can offer.“The availability of swimming lessons is constrained by both facility capacity and balancing the scheduling needs of a multi-use facility,” it said.Those needs include lane swim, leisure swim, aquacise, user groups like swimming clubs, staff training and leadership courses.Meegan Svedahl, a private swimming instructor in Regina, said demand for her lessons has gone up considerably. This year she received requests from more than 100 people, but said she is only able to take five students due to the lack of training space at the Lawson Aquatic Centre, Sandra Schmirler Leisure Centre and the North West Leisure Centre.”The private lesson instructors through the City of Regina aren’t allowed to reserve a specific time. We have to use leisure swim time,” Svedahl said.Construction on a new indoor aquatics facilit at the Sportplex site is schedule to be completed in 2029. However, that facility will replace the Lawson Aquatic Centre. Meegan Svedahl said an additional pool is needed to meet the demand for swimming lessons. (Peter Mills/CBC)That limits private instructors, as pools are difficult to access during the day. That leaves night time slots between 6:45 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. CST.”Kids that are under five typically don’t swim that late. [And] during the weekends the pool gets extremely busy. It’s hard to teach an effective lesson,” Svedahl said.She said many private instructors have contacted hotels and condo boards in hopes of renting their pools, but have been turned down, making City of Regina pools the only option.Svedahl taught swimming for the city in the past, and said the quality of instructors and lessons is “fantastic.””To understand it from a swimming perspective, safety-wise and pool space availability, they can’t really provide more swimming lessons in the time frames that they have open.”Parents and instructors say a fourth public pool is needed to accommodate the lesson demands. Construction on a new indoor aquatics facility at the Sportplex site is scheduled to be completed in 2029. However, that facility will replace the Lawson Aquatic Centre.Svedahl said the city needs another pool to meet the demand for lessons, rather than a replacement.ABOUT THE AUTHORLaura is a journalist, radio host and newsreader at CBC Saskatchewan. She previously worked at CBC Vancouver, CBC Toronto and The Globe and Mail. She has also guest reported on the BBC World Service. Laura specializes in human interest, arts and health care coverage. She holds a Master of Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia. Send Laura news tips at laura.sciarpelletti@cbc.ca
About 900 people on waitlist for City of Regina swimming lessons due to pool capacity issues
