A new, volunteer-based learning program geared toward para-swimmers has arrived in Penticton.
The KISU Swim Club has unveiled its “Para Learn to Swim Program,” with hopes of becoming a Canadian leader in developing athletes with physical, visual, or intellectual impairments.
Naomi Antler, a KISU Swim Club coach and coordinator, introduced the program to Penticton city council on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
“There is a gap between swimming lessons and kids with impairments of any kind,” Antler explained. “Our program is one-on-one instruction to allow for the instructors to adapt the program to the athlete they are working with.”
A trip to a Saskatchewan pool earlier this swim season helped inspire the idea to start the program, Antler said. The province is home to Canada’s largest “Para Learn to Swim Program,” which consists of 30 athletes.
“It’s more affordable and accessible than private lessons,” Antler said of the new local program. “We have support from Swiming Canada, inspired by the club in Saskatchewan.”
The learning program will be available for swimmers aged four and up.
Antler says that Janet Dunn — a wheelchair athletics and swim coach for Canada at the 1984, 1988 and 2012 Paralympics — will be among those responsible for training the volunteers at the forefront of the Penticton program.
“KISU has been a leader in para-swimming for years, as we’ve had many swimmers make national teams and camps,” Antler said. “We currently have the most para-swimmers out of all clubs in B.C.”
Antler has watched several success stories unfold in her local coaching tenure, including the one of Oliver-born Riley Martin.
In 2022, the KISU para-swimmer became the first Canadian in his classification to complete a 400-metre individual medley swim.
Local para-swimmers make up part of the 200 of the youth that currently compete for the KISU Swim Club.
“Para Learn to Swim Program” sessions will run at the Penticton Community Centre. More information about the club’s new program can be found here.
READ ALSO: Okanagan swimmer overcomes the odds to make Canadian history