The North Preston Swim Program was created to teach fundamental water safety and swimming skills to children who otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity. Sport Nova Scotia, the Zatzman Sportsplex and the North Preston Community Centre worked together to get the program started, and since 2021, almost 100 kids have participated.

“There is a real need to get swimming lessons into the Preston community. There is no community pool or supervised beaches where people can learn how to swim. Swimming is an important life skill and I think everyone involved in getting this program up and running truly believes that every Nova Scotian child should get the chanceto learn how to swim” said Ryan Kemp, Aquatic Coordinator at the Zatzman Sportsplex.

The biggest obstacle starting out was getting the kids to and from the pool. Sport Nova Scotia was able to provide temporary funding to support transportation costs and the North Preston Community Centre sent recreation leaders that the kids knew and trusted as chaperones. Kemp says that after the first couple of sessions the buy-in was so great that the community united to organize carpooling to ensure the program could continue even after the transportation funding had ended.

“Many parents are ecstatic that this program was created. There are lots of parents that are very happy their kids can now swim better than they ever imagined. In many cases the kids can now out-swim their parents,” said Kemp.

Not only do the children who have participated in the program now have fundamental potentially lifesaving swimming skills, they also have the knowledge to make good decisions in and around water. The lessons take place in a pool, but the skills taught are transferrable to lakes and oceans.

“We are grateful for the amazing opportunity that we were provided with, that allowed children and youth to gain comfort in and around the pool area and develop swimming skills in the process” said Tahirah Smith, Community Recreation Coordinator at the North Preston Community Centre.

Since the program’s inception, the Zatzman Sportsplex has fostered several additional partnerships with community groups and continues to seek affordable opportunities to teach children how to swim.

The North Preston Swim Program was made possible with the assistance of Sport Nova Scotia’s Sport Fund grant. For more information about how Sport Nova Scotia can help support your community sport initiative, check out the Sport Fund eligibility page on our website.