Ottawa, ON 
On my way back home today after dropping my son at school, I was thinking about my business — the British Swim School of Ottawa. I had of course a lot of questions in my head as to our future, but at the same time an incessant thought kept coming back… remember the “why”. Remember why you decided to quit your well-paid job to open a swimming school. Remember the fundamentals. Remember why this was so important for you… That was enough to get me centered and focused. Saving lives was and still is my “why”.
I chose a mission; I chose to act because that is what drives me in life. You see, my daughter, Simbi, almost drowned when she was younger while at a Summer camp. I almost lost her in a split second, because everyone around her assumed that she was “water safe” and didn’t pay attention. I assumed she knew how to swim, having sent her to a few classes here and there in crowded swim lessons, but that was not the case.
This was a wakeup call for me. So, I sprang into action and decided to teach her and her younger brother who later became a competitive swimmer. I was driven and felt compelled to drag nephews, nieces, friends’ kids to the pool whenever possible to teach them basic water safety skills and help save lives. That’s how I later decided to expand the mission and impact the community by opening up the British Swim School of Ottawa.
It’s easy to lose sight of this in the middle of a pandemic, but I hope with all my heart that we won’t. The risk of drowning is too high to ignore. Drownings over the last year have significantly increased due to the closure of lessons, demonstrating the need for water safety and swim instruction in Ontario. According to the Life Saving Society’s report, in 2020 there were more drownings in Ontario (95) compared to 2019 (88). The increase was in people swimming, people unexpectedly falling in water and boating. We know that not knowing how to swim properly is a contributing factor to drowning. And this year with no minimal access to lessons, children will have less training than those a year ago.
This Summer, thousands of kids, like Simbi, will be joining camps and other water-related activities ready to have fun with their friends. It is incumbent upon us to ensure they are prepared, equipped, and ready. We can all work together to prepare our loved ones be ready and save lives. As we gradually reopen pools, I urge parents to help their kids get reacquainted with water. April break is a great opportunity to send them to accelerated swim lessons. I urge the Government to allow water survival lessons in all regions as an essential service. Let’s all remember the fundamentals, as parents, teachers, community members, and decision makers.
Privately owned schools across Ontario have taught over 500,000 swimming lessons between July and December of last year without a single reported case of COVID-19 transmission. We are not like a typical recreation facility. Our small businesses are operated in a controlled facility and environment making it easy to manage the flow of patrons while ensuring all COVID-19 protocols are followed.
A safe reopening of swim instruction in all regions would mean our kids will have the critical access to lessons to ensure they are prepared to enjoy the family backyard pool, beach, and lake come the warmer months.
